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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. Where does Sherman talk to Tommy Killian?

2. What is the mayor's public position on the McCoy case?

3. Who calls Tommy Killian in Chapter 30 with news about the trial?

4. Where does Abe Weiss want to arrest Sherman McCoy?

5. What does an inmate in the holding cell attempt to steal from Sherman?

Short Essay Questions

1. Where does the incriminating recording of Maria come from?

2. What simple domestic act does Sherman attempt the morning after his arrest, and what happens?

3. What happens to the Lamb family at the end of the novel?

4. Why does Judge Kovisky decide to bring Sherman to his chambers along with the attorneys?

5. How does Larry Kramer characterize Roland Auburn in Chapter 19?

6. What aspects of Sherman McCoy's life are disrupted by the Henry Lamb case?

7. Why does Bernie disagree with Abe Weiss about the planned arrest of Sherman?

8. How does the information of Maria Ruskin's complicity in the hit-and-run eventually reach Peter Fallow?

9. What information do Martin's two crack dealers offer regarding the McCoy case?

10. What high-minded reasoning does Weiss give for his prosecution of Sherman McCoy in Chapter 23?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The legal system in Bonfire of the Vanities is presented as a largely toothless organism, constantly used as a tool in the political maneuverings of outside interests. Using the Sherman McCoy case as a frame, write en essay about the weakness of the criminal court. Who is in control of the proceedings? Is justice served at the end? What does the courtroom riot signify about Wolfe's opinion of the legal system?

Essay Topic 2

Sherman McCoy, at the beginning of the novel, considers himself a "Master of the Universe." Write an essay about what that means in his life. How does it affect his attitude toward family? Fidelity? His work? What is Tom Wolfe saying about the nature of capitalism in the 1980s through the character of Sherman McCoy?

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay about the character of Maria Ruskin. What is her appeal to Sherman? Why does he constantly forgive or ignore her dalliances with other men? What does she represent in the world of Wolfe's New York? Focus on specific moments in the story, her exoticism as a non-New Yorker, and her ultimate success.

(see the answer keys)

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