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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 last thing Thompson and the attorney tell the DA they meet in a bar?

2. Why does the waitress in Part II, Chapter 8 tell Thompson and the attorney to leave the diner?

3. What car does Thompson chose at the rental booth in Part II?

4. What bothers Thompson about the obese husband and wife at the conference in Part II?

5. What does Thompson tell the Hotel Flamingo desk clerk about Lucy?

Short Essay Questions

1. Where does Thompson and the attorney sit at the first day of the convention and what are they each wearing?

2. What does the waitress at the taco stand in Part II, Chapter 9 believe when Thompson and the attorney tell her they are looking for the American Dream, and what does the cook say to them?

3. What does the attorney advise Thompson to do after he takes care of the problem with Lucy, and what happens immediately after Thompson follows the attorney’s advice?

4. What happened in Aspen when Bruce was singing there one time?

5. How does Thompson feel when he returns to their destroyed suite at the Hotel Flamingo in Part II, Chapter 11?

6. How does the attorney keep Thompson from leaving Las Vegas in Part II, Chapter 5?

7. Why does Thompson stop east of Baker and what does he get at a pharmacy?

8. What does Thompson and the attorney do with the girl in the hotel room in Part II, Chapter 3?

9. What do Thompson and the attorney tell the DA from Georgia and what is the DA’s reaction to it?

10. What does Thompson do with the Red Shark in the beginning of Part II, and what does he do right after that?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Oftentimes, a book has more of a character-driven plot rather than action-driven, and oftentimes the other way. Some books seem to balance the two. Discuss the following:

What do you think it means to say that a plot is character-driven or action-driven? Which type of plot do you find more interesting? Why? Do you think it is possible to have a plot where action and character are developed to the same degree? Why or why not? What type of plot do you think Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is? Explain your response.

Essay Topic 2

There are numerous references that Thompson makes to the American Dream. Two are: Thompson begins a fairly lucid explanation for their trip through the desert. He and his attorney, Thompson says, are in search of the American Dream. Thompson and his attorney sit in the bar of the Circus-Circus, the attorney begins to complain of a drug-induced paranoia that is slowly taking hold of him. Thompson attempts to combat this by telling his companion that they are sitting in the "vortex of the American dream."

Define the American Dream according to Thompson. What does it encompass? Why is he looking for it? Is it real? Do you think he finds it by the end of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas? Use at least three examples of places in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas when Thompson mentions the American Dream.

Essay Topic 3

Define plot and include the definitions of the most important elements of a plot. Does all non-fiction have a plot? Why or why not? Write a brief synopsis of the plot of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, identifying where the various elements of the plot occur (Exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution or denouement). Do you find it difficult to identify the plot? Why or why not? What about the various elements of the plot? Give a brief synopsis of any important sub-plots.

(see the answer keys)

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