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This test consists of 5 short answer questions and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. According to news reports in Chapter 1, how is Paul Christian wounded?

2. In what European city does Harry Victor now spend most of his time?

3. How many correspondences does Didion receive from Inez putting her off in this chapter?

4. What does Billy Dillon want to avoid above all else regarding Paul Christian?

5. How was the helicopter engineer's daughter blinded?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Colonialism is a major theme of Didion's novel. It is an enduring symbol of America and takes on numerous forms in the modern world. Write an essay on latter-day American colonialism, in three parts:

Part 1) Examine the history of the Christian family in Hawaii. How are they at once outsiders to island culture and also masters of every part of modern Hawaiian life? How do people like Dwight and Carol Christian feel about the islands?

Part 2) How is Janet Ziegler a representation of oblivious colonial attitudes inherent in upper-class American life? Examine the interchange she has with Frances Landau and her press interview regarding Inez as evidence.

Part 3) How does the work of Jack Lovett represent a sort of de facto colonialism inherent in the Truman Doctrine? What alternative does America offer to Communism, and how is Lovett's work in Vietnam and Cambodia endemic of that?

Essay Topic 2

Didion seems to indicate throughout the novel that political life is just as vicious as - and possibly more so - military life. Write an essay on this assertion, in two parts:

Part 1) Inez Victor is presented as a victim of public life. To what extent is she destroyed by her relationship with Harry Victor? What passions is she forced to give up? What role is she forced to inhabit because of Harry's political aspirations?

Part 2) Billy Dillon is presented as a foot-soldier of political life; his motivations seem entirely removed from normal human compassion. How is he constantly undermining normal human interaction? To what extent is verbal and emotional violence the main tool of his trade?

Essay Topic 3

The actual plot of DEMOCRACY only begins about halfway through the novel. The preceding chapters provide reams of expository information and tantalizing clues as to what is to come. Write an essay analyzing the narrative structure of the novel. What does Didion achieve with the unorthodox structure? How does the first half of the novel prepare the reader for the plot to follow? What question does it raise? Are all of them answered by the end of the book?

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