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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 is the first job Chinaski applies for?

2. Where does Henry go with Tim?

3. What kind of music does Henry listen to while his parents are away?

4. What does Henry cash in to get money?

5. Where does Henry move to after New York?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe Henry's job in the ladies dress shop.

2. What is Willie's relationship with the three girls?

3. How does Willie die in the fifth section?

4. What is Henry's frame of mind when he arrives in New Orleans?

5. How does Henry anger his parents in the second section?

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

7. Summarize the fourth section.

8. Describe Henry's first two days in New York.

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

10. What does Henry do in El Paso?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss elements of the narrative structure: exposition, conflict, complication, climax, resolution and conclusion. Do all the elements make for a logical and linear story? How does the story's structure express the book's themes?

Essay Topic 2

In 2005, Bent Hamer directed a film version of FACTOTUM starring Matt Dillon. Why do you think the themes and ideas in the book were still relevant years later? How did the filmmakers adapt the themes to fit in with the new environment? How did these changes affect the meaning of the story?

Essay Topic 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 744 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample