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. Where does the narrator sit in the audience?

2. Who does the narrator call after leaving the club?

3. For what event has the narrator obtained an invitation?

4. What was their mother wearing in Michael's memory?

5. Why does the narrator think he reacted so badly to Amanda's departure?

Short Essay Questions

1. What exhibit in the museum is the narrator's favorite?

2. Why does Michael say he never liked Amanda?

3. What is the narrator's reaction when he sees his brother waiting on the stoop?

4. How does Michael's reappearance change the narrator's demeanor?

5. What is the significance of the rolls of bread?

6. Why is the narrator unsettled by the absence of Amanda's mannequin?

7. Why is it ironic that the narrator snorts cocaine behind the library?

8. What does Michael theorize may have spurred the narrator to marry Amanda?

9. What stunt is the narrator planning to pull at the fashion show?

10. What catalysts are responsible for the narrator rising early, reading the paper, and arriving on time to work?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Each chapter of the book has a distinct, often witty and ironic, title. Choose three titles and discuss their relevance to the chapter of the book. Be sure to use quotations, as the chapter's title is often repeated in different instances in the chapter. Take into account the novel's title--how is the theme "Bright Lights, Big City" repeated throughout the novel?

Essay Topic 2

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?

Essay Topic 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 755 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample