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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In her investigations in Chapter 4, Oedipa goes to what kind of meeting at Yoyodyne?
(a) Patents.
(b) Board.
(c) Stockholders.
(d) Design.

2. Genghis Cohen shows Oedipa an old German stamp with Thurn and Taxis printed on it which has a special symbol in each corner. He suggests that the extra mark on the symbol is a ______.
(a) Mute.
(b) Moat.
(c) Foul.
(d) Flute.

3. On her way to visit Emory Bortz, what building does Oedipa see burned down?
(a) The Tank Theater.
(b) KCUF radio station.
(c) Vespers House.
(d) Zapf's Used Books.

4. Which of the following is NOT a place that Oedipa encountered the WASTE symbol?
(a) An herbalist's window in Chinatown.
(b) Written in chalk on a sidewalk.
(c) A message in a fortune cookie.
(d) Gang jackets of delinquents at the city beach.

5. How does Oedipa end up at the desk of Stanley Koteks?
(a) She follows the WASTE symbols.
(b) They are former lovers.
(c) She gets lost on a tour of Yoyodyne.
(d) She is directed there by voices in her head.

Short Answer Questions

1. As Oedipa walks around the college campus in Chapter 5, she realizes her education made her what?

2. Genghis Cohen claims that the stamp, which depicts a Pony Express rider galloping out of a western fort into a black feather, is what?

3. Where does Stanley Koteks tell Oedipa to go instead of Berkeley after he becomes distrustful of her?

4. The name Tristero can be traced back to Hernando Joaquin de Tristero y Calavera who claimed to be _________ and thus the rightful Grand Master of the Post.

5. Bortz hands Oedipa an ancient book about the _________ travels of Dr. Diocletian Blobb.

Short Essay Questions

1. What is meant by Oedipa seeing Genghis Cohen, the philatelist, framed in a long succession of doorways?

2. What is Pynchon ridiculing through all of Oedipa's in-depth research into the Trystero?

3. What is the story behind the founding of Inamorati Anonymous?

4. Why does Oedipa think it is possible that her search for Tristero may be a hoax created by Pierce Inverarity?

5. As Oedipa sits in rush hour traffic on the Bay Bridge, what does she determine she knows about Tristero?

6. When Oedipa and Metzger go back to The Scope in Chapter 4, Mike Fallopian explains that there exists what kind of underground group?

7. Why does Oedipa consider her job as co-executor to be similar to Driblette's job as director of a play?

8. According to Jesus Arrabal, what is the miracle of Inverarity?

9. Inamorati Anonymous' association to the muted post horn symbol seems purely accidental, yet what are some similarities this group has to the Tristero?

10. What connection does Oedipa make between the old German stamp with Thurn and Taxis printed on it which has a post horn, resembling the WASTE symbol, in each corner and the scene from The Courier's Tragedy?

(see the answer keys)

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