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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. Genghis Cohen told Oedipa, during their discussion about the meanings behind the stamps, that he had never heard of an _______ year tradition of postal fraud.

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

3. What does the owner of the government surplus store, Winthrop Tremaine, tell Oedipa there is a large demand for?

4. What was the name of the author of the preface of the "Plays of Ford, Webster, Tourneur and Wharfinger," who Oedipa travels to the Cal State campus to find?

5. Genghis Cohen shows Oedipa a Pony Express stamp from 1940 with the _______ symbol on the back.

Short Essay Questions

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

2. How is the campus of Cal State different from when Oedipa was in college?

3. Oedipa compares her search for The Tristero to what process?

4. Why are WASTE mail boxes located under freeways?

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

6. What are the four alternatives Oedipa comes up with to explain her discoveries concerning the Tristero?

7. Describe the Nefastis Machine as it was explained by Stanley Koteks.

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

9. The overall crisis Oedipa faces by the end of the novel could be summed up how?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The Crying of Lot 49 mixes elements taken from several different genres, or types of literature. Discuss each of these in terms of its use in the novel.

1) The picaresque novel, such as Don Quixote

2) The Jacobean and Elizabethan revenge plays, such as Hamlet

3) Mythology

4) Fairytales

5) Historical texts

Essay Topic 2

What is the myth of Echo and Narcissus? How is it represented in the setting, characters and themes of The Crying of Lot 49?

Essay Topic 3

In Chapter 3, Pynchon engages in explicit foreshadowing, signaled by use of the future tense. The author also speaks directly to the reader, providing knowledge of which the character remains ignorant.

1) Give specific examples of foreshadowing.

2) How is this literary device used in an ironic manner?

(see the answer keys)

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