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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. According to Ballard, each of Gabrielle's body was a "ripening anthology of ______possibilities."

2. According to Vaughan, who has never been in a major crash so "everything lies in the future for her?"

3. According to Vaughan, why is it important for him to have Elizabeth Taylor fill out his questionnaire?

4. According to Ballard, if the famous actress Vaughan obsessed over never died in a car-crash, what had Vaughan created instead?

5. Where do Vaughan, Gabrielle, and Ballard visit at Earls Court?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the purpose of Vaughan's questionnaire?

2. Who are the spectators at the accident site involving the taxi and limo and what role does the scene have in the larger story?

3. How does Vaughan begin to change as the novel progresses?

4. What is Elizabeth Taylor shooting at the studio where Ballard works and how is it significant?

5. Why is Seagrave's disappearance important to the plot?

6. Where do Catherine and Vaughan have sex and why is it significant?

7. How does Ballard respond to Vaughan's request to give one of the questionnaires to Elizabeth Taylor and what does it show about his character?

8. Why is Ballard attracted to Gabrielle?

9. How does Gabrielle respond to Ballard's staring at the scars on her legs and how does Ballard interpret her response?

10. How do the prostitutes Vaughan picks up begin to change in appearance and why is it significant?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

What is the role of fame in the novel?

1) How does Vaughan use his celebrity status in the novel?

2) Why is Vaughan and Seagrave obsessed with famous figures?

3) What is the connection between immortality and fame?

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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