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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. What is the name of Ballard's wife?

2. The firemen who cut Ballard's door from its hinges looked like what according to Ballard?

3. Why does Ballard recognize the man taking pictures of him as Vaughan?

4. What does Ballard note about the Lincoln Continental Vaughan drives?

5. According to Ballard, "For Vaughan, the car-crash and his own ______ had made their final marriage."

Short Essay Questions

1. Who is Elizabeth Taylor and what role does she play in the novel?

2. Why doesn't Catherine attend the funeral for Dr. Helen Remington's husband and what does it show about her character?

3. Why does Ballard wear a seat belt when he crashes his car and how is it significant?

4. How does Dr. Robert Vaughan interrupt Ballard's rendezvous with the prostitute and why is it important?

5. Why does Ballard recognize Dr. Robert Vaughan when he sees him with the camera in the parking garage and why is it significant?

6. Why is Dr. Robert Vaughan wanted by the police and how is it significant?

7. How does Ballard regard his accident and why is it significant?

8. What does the prostitute Ballard hires share in common with his wife and his lover and what do they show about Ballard's character?

9. What is the chronology of the novel and why is it significant?

10. Describe Ballard and Catherine's marriage and explain its relevance to the novel.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Throughout the novel, sexuality is used as a means of both coercion and empowerment. Give two to three examples to support your statements.

1) Discuss the overall theme of sexuality as it pertains to identity in the novel.

2) Choose one character and discuss her/his sexuality as it evolves in the novel.

Essay Topic 2

Identify and discuss the plot and subplot of "Crash." Make sure you define the terms in your essay response.

1) What is the conflict of the novel?

2) What is the climax of the novel?

3) What is the novel's resolution?

Essay Topic 3

In "Crash," both Helen's husband and Vaughan die early in the novel. Ballard's recollections of Vaughan and meeting him through his accident that killed Helen's husband can be seen as a sort of elegy as he grieves for both himself (in being accountable for another person's death) as well as for his friend. Choose 3 major scenes and discuss the way he expresses his grief.

(see the answer keys)

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