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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. At what museum did Inez work when Harry was at the Justice Department?

2. What drug does Inez catch her daughter Jessie using in 1973?

3. What character gives Didion a copy of the police report regarding the Paul Christian murders?

4. Where was Inez Victor born?

5. During their 1975 visit in Kuala Lumpur, who does Inez say she speaks to every night?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is happening to Jack Lovett at the end of Chapter 1?

2. Why is Inez Victor confined to a room when she arrives in Hong Kong?

3. How does Billy Dillon get Frank Tawagata on his side?

4. Why is the lie that Jack Lovett is in the military hard to swallow?

5. What off-message statement does Inez make to an Associated Press reporter in Chapter 7?

6. How does Inez get Lovett's body to Hawaii?

7. Why is the helicopter engineer returning to Vietnam?

8. What does Didion think when Inez finally invited her to Kuala Lumpur?

9. What does Inez Victor want to discuss with Didion in 1975 instead of her affair with Jack Lovett?

10. What is Joan Didion's first memory of Jack Lovett and Inez Victor together?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The story of DEMOCRACY is the story of Inez Victor's discovery of self. Write an essay about this process, how it occurs, and what Inez discovers through it. What is she forced to sublimate and sacrifice in her marriage to Harry Victor? After the shattering events of the narrative, how does she find peace and satisfaction? In what way is Jack Lovett instrumental in making this transition occur?

Essay Topic 2

In Democracy, the media becomes an entity unto itself, forever reducing characters to their most basic form and denying the world a cultivated understanding of them. Write an essay about three prominent media portraits in the novel. How do they neglect something essential about the character or characters contained within? What image of the character or characters does each create in its words and visuals? What is the article or image's importance to the narrative?

Part 1) Janet Ziegler's television interview about Inez.

Part 2) Inez's AP interview regarding her memory.

Part 3) The video of Inez dancing on the roof of the St. Regis.

Essay Topic 3

Jack Lovett's reasoning is most often tied to a given military-political objective he has been given. Didion states that his greatest gift is the ability to view situations with a dispassionate eye. The only case in which this is not true, in which he skirts his duty, is regarding Inez Victor. In an essay, examine Lovett's relationship with Inez. How does his affection manifest itself prior to the Christian shootings? What role do these shootings serve in allowing him to make his move? What good deeds does he render to her, and how does his career allow him to do so?

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