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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. What does Henry vow to be in this section?

2. What magazine does Clay Gladmore own?

3. Where does Henry find work in this section?

4. What is the name of Henry's new landlady?

5. Where does Henry move to after New York?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Henry do while drunk with his friend, Tim Hunter?

2. What does Henry do in El Paso?

3. Why does Willie like Henry?

4. How does Henry meet Laura?

5. What does Henry think of New York when he first arrives?

6. What is Henry's opinion of New York?

7. Summarize the fourth section.

8. Why does Henry decide it is time to go back to Los Angeles?

9. How is Henry trying to develop his writing career in the fourth section?

10. How does Henry lose his job at the dog biscuit factory?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the values of the 1940s.

1. In what ways are the characters a product of their time?

2. How does the book express the changes America was going through at the time?

3. Does modern society share any values with 1940s America?

Essay Topic 2

How does Bukoski represent sex? How did people in the 70s perceive Bukowski's representations of sex? How do people today perceive Bukowski's representations of sex?

Essay Topic 3

What are the main turning points of the book? How does Bukowski develop his story to get to each turning point? What happens to the story after a major turning point?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 679 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample