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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. Who is Francis Waring, according to Ballard?

2. As Ballard is taken to the hospital after his crash, he recalls that "Vaughan collected the _____of ________nurses in his photographic albums."

3. According to Ballard, what would Ballard and Vaughan listen to on their way to accident sites?

4. Who does Ballard's wife Catherine tell him he looks like in the hospital?

5. What is the name of the park where Ballard and Catherine's apartment is located?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. How do Ballard, Helen, and Vaughan react to Seagrave's accident at the stock-car races and why is it significant?

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

4. Who is with Dr. Helen Remington in the hospital and why is it significant?

5. 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?

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

7. Why does Ballard begin renting cars and what do they signify?

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

9. How is the man killed in the crash with Ballard symbolic?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

In the novel, obsession controls, empowers, and destroys characters in their fixation with particular people, objects, and ideas. Choose 3 characters and discuss their obsessions. In particular, what or who are they obsessed with and why? How does their obsession change them? Give examples throughout the course of the novel to support your statements.

Essay Topic 3

The influence of J.G. Ballard as an avant-garde writer is well-documented. Discuss his influence within and outside of the literary community. Use secondary sources to help support your essay response.

(see the answer keys)

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