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Name: _________________________ | Period: ___________________ |
This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.
Short Answer Questions
1. According to Ballard, the young wife of the man killed in the car crash stared at him with a look that resembled a ________in an Early Renaissance icon.
2. When Ballard is lifted onto the stretcher after the crash, how does he feel?
3. What kind of business has Catherine started up with one of her boyfriends?
4. Who does Ballard take to the stock-car races in the stadium at Northolt?
5. Where does Ballard take one of the three prostitutes to?
Short Essay Questions
1. What does Ballard believe Helen's motives are for making love with him at the site of the accident and what is their sex act a metaphor for?
2. What are Ballard's injuries from his crash with the man and his wife and how does he respond to them?
3. Where does Ballard take Renata after his release from the hospital and why?
4. Why does Ballard wear a seat belt when he crashes his car and how is it significant?
5. What is the significance of the airport in "Crash"?
6. Why is Dr. Robert Vaughan wanted by the police and how is it significant?
7. How does Dr. Robert Vaughan interrupt Ballard's rendezvous with the prostitute and why is it important?
8. How does Ballard regard his accident and why is it significant?
9. What dominates Ballard's thoughts as he recovers in the hospital and why is it significant?
10. How does Dr. Helen Remington react to Ballard when he tries to speak to her in the hospital corridor?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
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.
Essay Topic 2
Discuss the body as a major theme in the novel. Make sure you define theme in your discuss and use specific examples to address each of the following:
1) How does Ballard describe the human body in terms of its purpose and function?
2) Choose 3 characters and detail how their bodies are affected by violence?
3) Compare Ballard's description of the human body with the body of a car. What are their similarities and differences?
Essay Topic 3
Traffic is a leitmotif in "Crash." What is the meaning of traffic, the material traffic of cars on the highways, as well as the emotional traffic of the characters lives?
This section contains 851 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) |
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