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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. When the narrator dances with a girl at the club, what does she reveal she has heard about his wife?

2. In which branch of the magazine does the narrator work?

3. What is Seventh Avenue called below Fortieth Street?

4. Why does the narrator like Tad Allagash?

5. What does the narrator purchase on his lunch break?

Short Essay Questions

1. What was Amanda's home life like when she met the narrator?

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

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

4. 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?

5. Why is the narrator so upset when he forgets Megan's bagel?

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

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

8. How are the narrator and Amanda using each other for escape?

9. Where is the narrator when the story begins?

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

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

What is the main tension between aspects of the narrator's life? Provide at least three textual examples of the narrator's struggle with this tension. Is he able to resolve it by the end of the novel? If not, is there hope for him to resolve it in the future? Will the narrator ever be able to grow up?

Essay Topic 3

Compare and contrast Vicky and Amanda.

1) What are some of Amanda's qualities? How do they mesh with the narrator's when the two first met?

2) What are some of Vicky's qualities? How are they a match or a mismatch for the narrator?

3) Which relationship is more promising for the narrator---a reconciliation with Amanda or new chapter with Vicky? Which woman is more appropriate for him?

(see the answer keys)

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