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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. How did Amanda end her relationship with the narrator?

2. Why do the narrator and Vicky miss their connection with Tad?

3. Where will the narrator shop for his eventual girlfriend/wife?

4. When the narrator leaves for lunch, what does Megan ask him to bring back for her?

5. Upon his return to the office, what has the narrator forgotten?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. How did the narrator and Amanda first meet?

3. What does the narrator hope for as he turns in an article that he knows is unfinished?

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

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

6. Why does the narrator have trouble being in his apartment?

7. How is the mannequin symbolic of Amanda?

8. 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?

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the narrator's elitism.

1) How has the narrator's love of fiction contributed to this elitism? Why does he feel he must alter the truth about his job to strangers?

2) Why is the narrator so concerned with being "in" rather than "out"? How much of this fear drives his friendship with Tad Allagash?

3) Could his need to be one of the elite have contributed to his relationship with Amanda? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

The narrator and Amanda were obviously mismatched.

1) How is the narrator's love of fiction detrimental to his relationship with Amanda?

2) What fantasies do the narrator and Amanda make of each other?

3) Though Amanda is portrayed as the shallower character, she is the one to end their fantasy. What does this imply about Amanda?

Essay Topic 3

Do a character analysis of Clara Tillinghast. Include:

1) Her professional background.

2) Her attitude toward the narrator, both past and present.

Describe the scene where she fires the narrator. How does she react when he essentially steals her thunder? Does she get angrier that he is not upset?

(see the answer keys)

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