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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. How does Grace reassure Cy about her body?

2. Why does Grace say she will find Cy soon?

3. What do the police find when they go to Cy's tattoo parlor?

4. What is in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn?

5. Why do the police close Sedak's file?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Cy first meet Grace?

2. When Cy is somewhat inebriated in Vargas, he makes what connection between Grace and his mother and how does he react to that connection?

3. What are Sedak's motives in attacking Grace?

4. What does Cy think he sees in a neighboring apartment that makes him question his sanity?

5. Why do you think Cy returns to Pedder Street in Morecambe?

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

7. Describe the last image in the book and what you think is its meaning.

8. What secret of Claudia's does Grace hold?

9. How does Cy feel about tattooing?

10. What does Cy think about Coney Island and how do you interpret that?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In Part 1, "Salvaging Renaissance," the narrator states that Cy's routine always begins with the question, "Ready?" It asks endorsement of the change Cy and the client are about to effect, an oral signature that Cy will match in ink on skin. Because some customers take the opportunity to flee, Riley berates Cy to comfort customers instead. Tell a story. Tell a joke. Saying nothing is bad form. Answer the following questions and write a well-developed, cohesive essay using examples from the text and your research or personal experience:

1. Compare and contrast Cy's handling of clients both in this part and future parts with the way Riley handles clients.

2. Which "bedside manner" would you prefer? Do you think women would prefer Riley's approach more than Cy's? Or vice versa? What about men?

3. Should Riley be trying to distract a client from changing his or her mind? Should the client not be distracted so that s/he can make a last minute change of mind?

Essay Topic 2

Near the very end of the book after Cy has returned to Morecambe, he takes on an apprentice, Nina Shearer. 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 Nina's behavior as an apprentice to Cy's behavior as an apprentice.

2. Compare and contrast Riley's teaching methods to Cy's teaching methods.

3. Discuss how effective Riley and Cy's teaching methods are and Cy and Nina's learning methods are and the strengths and weaknesses of each. To which teacher would you more likely be similar? Which apprentice?

Essay Topic 3

As Cy is working for Riley after his mother has died, Cy continues to judge life by Reeda's standards for many years after she dies. Eventually, he begins to judge life by Riley's standards. After he has moved to Brooklyn and lives in a world of which Riley nor Reeda know anything, their ideas still greatly influence his interpretations of the life around him. Answer the following questions and write a well-developed, cohesive essay using examples from the text and your research or personal experience:

1. Discuss how Riley's influence is still a large part of Cy's life in America.

2. Discuss how his mother's ideas inform Cy's adult life--be sure to include specific examples.

3. At what point in Cy's life does Cy begin formulating his own ideas about life? Give examples. Do Reeda's and Riley's influence ever completely fade out of Cy's mind?

(see the answer keys)

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