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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 tell the interviewer is his real job?

2. What do the men on the train receive from the train company?

3. What city does Chinaski arrive in at the beginning of the book?

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

5. What is the job Chinaski turns down?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

4. What does Henry promise himself in the fourth section?

5. How does Willie die in the fifth section?

6. Summarize the second section.

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

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

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

10. What does Carson Gentry make Henry understand about life in the fourth section?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What does Bukowski express about liberty in his novel? In what ways are Bukowski and his career an example of American liberty?

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

Pick two characters from the book and discuss his or her goals and motives. Do they achieve their motives? Do they share similar goals and motives with other characters? Do their goals clash with other characters? How do the characters' goals and motives affect their interaction with each other?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 725 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample