View a FREE sample

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

Short Answer Questions

1. Why does the narrator begin to panic as the morning waxes?

2. Who has called in sick to the office?

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

4. What author did the narrator, in his first days at the company, give advice about his award-winning prose?

5. What animal does the narrator compare to Amanda?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the narrator's obsession with Coma Baby reflect on his own life?

2. To what does the narrator attribute his need to belong and feel desired?

3. How do the narrator's inner identity and his outer persona conflict?

4. Why, after all the time that has passed, is the narrator still trying to track Amanda down?

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

6. Why does the narrator feel he is so different from the Hasidic Jews he encounters on the train?

7. How is the narrator out of place in the sports bar?

8. What insights does the reader gain about the character when he forgets to bring Megan her soda?

9. Why is the narrator conflicted when he learns the French piece has already gone to the typesetters?

10. What does the narrator think is Tad Allagash's mission in life?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The narrator is obsessed with the missing person poster.

1) Why is he so affected by the missing person? In what ways does he feel similar to the missing person? Specially, talk about his relationship with his family.

2) If the narrator were to post a missing persons sign, who would be on the sign? Why?

Essay Topic 2

The narrator is obsessed with Coma Baby.

1) How are the dilemmas of the Coma Baby similar to the narrator's own?

2) In his dream about Coma Baby, what role does the narrator take on?

3) How are Coma Baby's mother and the narrator's mother parallels?

Essay Topic 3

Explain Vicky's concept of "ineffability." How is this concept appropriate for the narrator's view of his life and the people in it? How is Vicky an appropriate mate for the narrator, whereas Amanda was not?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 728 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample