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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does the author use as a recurrent symbol of U.S. political stupidities?
(a) President George Bush's call for a constitutional amendment outlawing flag burning.
(b) President George Bush's support of the NRA.
(c) The Bill of Rights' First Amendment.
(d) The NRA militia commercials.

2. This book is the sequel to what other book?
(a) Easter Sunday.
(b) Palm Sunday.
(c) Friday the 13th.
(d) Good Friday.

3. What does Vonnegut wish his father had insisted he study?
(a) Law.
(b) Painting.
(c) Engineering.
(d) Architecture.

4. Why does Vonnegut become cranky when hearing his requiem performed?
(a) The synthesizer music overpowers the lyrics.
(b) The choir director conducts too quickly.
(c) The choir mispronounces the lyrics.
(d) The synthesizer music is not loud enough.

5. What choir performs Vonnegut's requiem?
(a) United Methodist choir.
(b) Hindu choir.
(c) Universalist Unitarian choir.
(d) The Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

6. What art form does Kurt Vonnegut Sr. take up after he retires?
(a) Printmaking.
(b) Sculpture.
(c) Pottery.
(d) Painting .

7. What does Vonnegut believe it is time to hear?
(a) The ringing of the Liberty Bell.
(b) Cries of love for all people.
(c) The cry for freedom.
(d) Liberty's lusty birth cries.

8. What does Vonnegut tell 1990 graduates of the University of Rhode Island?
(a) He wishes he could have been a graduate of the University of Rhode Island.
(b) Colleges should spread the important stuff over four years, instead of saving it all up for the very end.
(c) They should enjoy this day, because real life begins tomorrow.
(d) College is a waste of time, and they should make the world their university.

9. Why does Vonnegut miss his 50th high school reunion?
(a) He contracts Lyme disease.
(b) He catches pneumonia.
(c) His plane is delayed.
(d) He forgets the date of his reunion.

10. What is the name of the infant that the Vonneguts adopt?
(a) Rachel.
(b) Rose.
(c) Lily.
(d) Leslie.

11. What does Vonnegut believe about professional artists' opinions on vocal third parties, such as critics, curators, and collectors?
(a) They are happiest when they do not have to worry about other's opinions.
(b) They like to receive criticism from third parties.
(c) They constantly ask for approval from critics, curators, and collectors.
(d) They love to create work for collectors.

12. Vonnegut is the third person in his family to have a one-person show and the second to put in time in a "laughing academy." What is he the first to do?
(a) Write.
(b) Divorce and remarry.
(c) Create art.
(d) Have an unhappy marriage.

13. Vonnegut defends what freedom?
(a) Freedom of assembly.
(b) Freedom of religion.
(c) Freedom of speech.
(d) Freedom of the press.

14. The Reverend wants which amendment to conform to his version of Christianity?
(a) The Twenty-Seventh Amendment.
(b) The Second Amendment.
(c) The Twenty-First Amendment.
(d) The First Amendment.

15. Where does Vonnegut attempt to get his own requiem mass translated into Latin but is denied?
(a) Fordham.
(b) Columbia.
(c) SUNY Purchase.
(d) NYU.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why did Jane Cox's relatives question her marriage to Vonnegut?

2. What does the Reverend oppose?

3. Why is Father desperate for uncritical female friendship?

4. What causes the author's mother's untreated insanity?

5. Who is the Cody, Wyoming, artist who is America's foremost adventurer in the Abstract Expressionist movement?

(see the answer keys)

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