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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 is Alex Hardy?

2. Why has Tad insisted on making up stories about Amanda and the narrator's separation?

3. What street performer do Vicky and the narrator watch at Sheridan Square?

4. What is the animal's name?

5. What suit does the narrator take against Amanda?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is the narrator hesitant to go to lunch with Alex Hardy?

2. Why does the narrator purchase the knockoff Cartier watch on the street?

3. What is worrying the narrator as he begins work on the French article?

4. What is the significance of the last three images in the chapter: the Colgate sign, the Statue of Liberty, and the garbage barge?

5. What contrast is the author making between the people of New York City?

6. Why does Tad Allagash continually make up of stories of Amanda's death?

7. What began Clara Tillinghast's dislike of the narrator?

8. What point of view does the author write in, and how is it distinguished?

9. Where is the narrator when the story begins?

10. Though Vicky seems an appropriate person for the narrator and makes him happy, what ill affect does the exhilaration of their date have on the narrator?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Do a character analysis of Megan Avery. Include:

1) Her family background.

2) Her medical history.

3) Her inclination toward the narrator.

4) Her dinner with the narrator.

How do all of these things add up? Why is she intent on taking the narrator under her wing?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the conflicts between the narrator's perceived inner self and his outer persona.

1) Who does he really think he is inside?

2) Why is he so reliant on Allagash and the status of his New York social life?

3) How does his job fit into that image?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the use of bread as a symbol in the text.

1) What does bread symbolize? What is the connection between bread and the narrator's mother?

2) How does the narrator react to bread in differences places in the novel?

3) How does bread bring him absolution in the final stages of the novel?

(see the answer keys)

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