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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. Who does Judge Kovitsky request come to his chambers in addition to Kramer and Killian?

2. What gesture did Sherman make to Judy before going to work in his first days at Pierce and PIerce?

3. Who does Bernie Fitzgibbon want to interview before going ahead with an arrest of Sherman McCoy?

4. What does Sherman tell his daughter to remember in the coming days?

5. What important piece of information does Kovitsky neglect to mention in his dismissal of the McCoy indictment?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe Maria Ruskin's testimony.

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

3. How does Roland Auburn's story differ from the actual event?

4. What does Fallow see at the funeral?

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

6. Why has no one heard of Roland Auburn even though he has been in the papers?

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

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

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

10. Describe the scene at the Criminal Court at the end of Chapter 31.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Bonfire of the Vanities can be viewed as a modern morality tale in which a man without a soul - Sherman McCoy - is given one by a process of attrition. All the earthly pleasures he enjoys are stripped from him until he is rendered a man. Write an essay about Sherman McCoy's redemption:

Part 1) Analyze Sherman McCoy's processing the day he turns himself in. What does he lose and what does he experience? What is his reaction the the proceedings?

Part 2) How does Sherman McCoy's kicking Pollard Browning out of his condo reflect a shift in his personality? What has changed?

Part 3) Describe the Sherman McCoy described in the Epilogue. How is this Sherman different from the Sherman we meet at the beginning of the novel?

Essay Topic 2

As life becomes more complicated and precarious for Sherman McCoy, fewer and fewer supportive people in his life offer him assistance. This is a shame, because those who are not connected to the case are the most sensible and honest around him, his family. Write an essay about the three truth-tellers in his family. How does Sherman lose each of them? How do each of them serve in some way as his conscience?

Part 1) Judy McCoy

Part 2) Sherman's Father

Part 3) Campbell McCoy

Essay Topic 3

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?

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