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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, who "resembled rows of the dead looking down at us from the galleries of a columbarium"?

2. At the Road Research Laboratory, who does Helen stare at "almost as if they were patients whom she hoped to treat"?

3. When Catherine asks Ballard where his car is after the police leave the studio parking lot, what does he tell her?

4. How does Seagrave preempt the "real death" that Vaughan reserved for himself?

5. In Ballard's last days with Vaughan, they no longer drive the motorway searching for accidents, but do what instead?

Short Essay Questions

1. What kinds of photos are in the album Vaughan shows Ballard at Seagrave's house and what does Ballard notice about them?

2. What kinds of pictures does Ballard find in the questionnaire and what do they signify?

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

4. Describe Catherine's fantasies about Vaughan, how they pertain to Ballard, and their impact on her and Ballard's marriage.

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

6. What type of questions from Vaughan's questionnaire is Ballard specifically drawn to?

7. Why does J.G. Ballard portray Vaughan's self-stimulation in the vehicle where a dentist recently died?

8. What do Ballard and Vaughan do after they pick up two prostitutes and why is it relevant to the larger story?

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

10. 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?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Automobiles play a major role in the novel. Choose 2 characters and discuss their relationship to vehicles. What is their purpose in the novel and what are they a metaphor for? Make sure to define metaphor in your discussion.

Essay Topic 2

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 3

Discuss surveillance as a major theme in the novel by comparing two characters.

1) How do these characters survey others?

2) What are the motives for the characters' surveillance?

3) What do the characters learn by surveying others?

4) What devices, mechanical or otherwise, does Ballard use as instruments of surveillance?

(see the answer keys)

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