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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why does Peter Fallow pretend to be on the phone when a co-worker approaches him?

2. Of what profession was Judy's father?

3. How much of Oscar Suder's money does Sherman McCoy lose in Chapter 7?

4. Where are Judy and Campbell when Sherman returns home in the evening?

5. Next to whom is Sherman seated during dinner in Chapter 15?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Abe Weiss perpetually searching for and why?

2. How does Judy explain Sherman's work to Campbell?

3. Describe the speech Lord Buffing makes.

4. What concerns Sherman McCoy about taking Martin and Goldberg to his garage?

5. What realities does Tommy Killian elucidate for Sherman?

6. Describe Maria Ruskin.

7. Why do the McCoys rent a car to go to the Bavardages party?

8. How does Annie Lamb's situation make her cooperation with the police difficult?

9. Why does Sherman McCoy have to go to the toilet at his firm to read the newspaper?

10. What do Maria and Sherman ultimately decide to do regarding the Bronx car incident?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The Mayor of New York is the only recurring character in the novel without a name. Write an essay about the mayor as a symbol for the political, legal, and business system of New York. What does the mayor fear? What does he consider his failures and successes? How does he cope with forces he does not understand and cannot face?

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay comparing the character arcs of Sherman McCoy and Larry Kramer. Are the two men mirrors of each other in the novel? How do they both view their lives and the people who care about them? Does Kramer's resentment of the privileged WASP existence also indicate a desire to have that life?

Essay Topic 3

Tom Wolfe's New York is a den of tigers, comprised largely of ambitious and venal men willing to exploit any angle to accumulate and keep power. Write an essay on the power-brokers of Bonfire of the Vanities:

Part 1) Abe Weiss is a subtly racist politician in a city of minorities. What does he do over the course of the novel to appease his minority constituents? How does he aggrandize himself in doing this? What is his aim?

Part 2) Reverend Bacon is a classic pious charlatan. What does he preach to his constituents and his opponents? What are his true designs in preaching this message?

Part 3) Larry Kramer likes to imagine himself as a savvy player in corrupt system and a defender of the common man. What does he want for his good works? What does he consider his prize for this?

(see the answer keys)

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