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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 accompanies Oedipa and Metzger to Fangoso Lagoons for the day?

2. What is the name of Oedipa's lawyer?

3. Funch, Mucho's boss, accuses him of what in his interactions with people at work?

4. What are the members of Mike Fallopian's group required to do each week?

5. Dr. Hilarius's insistence that Oedipa take part in the experiment reminds Oedipa of what?

Short Essay Questions

1. What kind of image does Funch the program director want Mucho to have at the radio station?

2. What aspect of Mucho's job does Oedipa compare to a religious officiant conducting a ceremony?

3. What is the plot of the movie that Metzger starred in as a child?

4. How is the sign advertising the Echo Courts in the likeness of Marilyn Monroe?

5. What is the metaphor Oedipa is referring to about The Trystero and the costumes of historical figures?

6. What does Oedipa do in the bathroom of the Echo Courts motel room prior to playing a game with Metzger?

7. According to Mike Fallopian, what eventually happened to Peter Pinguid?

8. What is unusual about the postmark on the letter Oedipa receives from Mucho?

9. Why does the manager of the Echo Courts think Oedipa is trying to seduce him?

10. As she is losing the game of Strip Botticelli, what does Oedipa remove first?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the function of language and its ability or inability to convey truth as a central thematic strand of the novel. How is this theme intertwined with others in The Crying of Lot 49?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss how the meaninglessness of modern life is a central thematic strand to the narrative of The Crying of Lot 49.

Essay Topic 3

Oedipa's search for truth leads her to visit, along with Metzger, the Paranoids and their girlfriends, Inverarity's housing development, and Fangoso Lagoons.

1) Explain the significance of this setting to the thematic aspects of the novel.

2) Describe how the characters themselves and their actions in this scene embody certain themes of the novel.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 700 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample