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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. Why does Cy advise the soldiers to go wash down their arms?

2. Who is in Cy's tattoo parlor when Grace first visits?

3. How does Cy know his neighbors' names?

4. Who are Grace and Maximus?

5. What happens as Grace lies in the hospital?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Cy remember Grace?

2. What does Grace want from Cy and why do you think she wants it?

3. How does Cy compare Coney Island to Morecambe?

4. Give a physical and psychological description of Claudia.

5. When Grace is out of the hospital and visits Cy, how is her body described and how does Cy respond?

6. Do you think Sedak deserves what they do to him?

7. How does Claudia become to have so many tattoos and to what does that lead Artura and Claudia?

8. How does Cy feel about tattooing?

9. How is Grace described at the beginning of "The Lady of Many Eyes"?

10. Describe the first few days that Cy spends at the hospital.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In Part 2, "Babylon in Brooklyn," much narration is devoted to describing Coney Island. Choose one of the following and write a well-developed, cohesive essay using examples from the text and your research or personal experience:

1. Compare and contrast Coney Island with Cy's boyhood home, Morecambe.

2. Find all the references to Coney Island and explain the relation of this setting to two of the major themes of the book.

3. How are Coney Island and the mystique of tattoos compatible? Not compatible?

Essay Topic 2

Grace is probably the most complex character in the book. Most readers might even say that they don't ever fully understand her or her motives. Answer the following questions and write a well-developed, cohesive essay using examples from the text and your research or personal experience:

1. What is it about Grace that intimidates the soldiers in Cy's shop in Part 2, "The Lady of Many Eyes"?

2. Besides being intimidated, the soldiers are also sexually attracted to Grace. Why do you think that is true? Or do you? Which emotion of the soldiers seems stronger--fear or attraction? Is there something about their fear that actually intensifies their attraction?

3. The soldiers imply that Grace's sanity is questionable. What do you think? Is the way she treats the soldiers sane? Why or why not?

4. What do you think is the significance of Grace's action when she confronts the soldiers and licks her thumb and touches the soldier's cheek?

Essay Topic 3

There are a number of themes that run as a thread throughout the novel. Choose one of the following questions and write a well-developed, cohesive essay using examples from the text and your research or personal experience:

1. Trace the development and resolution of the theme that beauty and destruction are often related. Use specific examples to illustrate how this theme is expressed. Analyze the examples and offer an analysis of the existing political situation during this novel.

2. Trace the development and resolution of the theme of "working through pain." Use specific examples to illustrate how this theme is expressed. Analyze the examples and offer an analysis of the how the concept of duality manifest in character personalities and in the physical setting.

3. Trace the development of the theme of violence. Use specific examples to illustrate how this theme is expressed. Analyze the examples and offer an analysis as to why this theme is central to the novel's plot.

(see the answer keys)

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