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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. Onto which of the following roads does Fife turn unthinkingly, heading to his hometown?

2. The comment that Joan Baez “was like their Joan of Arc riding up on her white horse to inspire them and validate their plight” (130-31) offers an example of which of the following?

3. On which of the following roads does Fife note having driven with Nick Dafina on their teenaged road-trip?

4. Which of the following is the name of Fife and Nick Dafina’s high school principal?

5. With which of the following rental agencies does Fife work?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Fife muse that Renée does for him?

2. How does Fife describe Amy’s reaction to Boston?

3. With what interviewing technique does Malcolm credit Fife?

4. Why does Malcolm note he means to keep in his film Fife’s narration about dropping out of college?

5. What apprehension does Fife face as he parks in front of a pharmacy in his hometown?

6. What items does Fife note having in his briefcase in Boston after being separated from his luggage?

7. What sentence is noted for the guilty party in Fife’s work on priestly misconduct?

8. What are Nick Dafina’s military plans?

9. What does Fife note as a primary Sunday occupation in St. Petersburg?

10. How does Fife explain his teenaged road trip with Nick Dafina as “clean and honorable” (188-89)?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Consider the following passage: “That’s all, just numbers, [Fife] thinks. What’s the matter with him? He’s not stupid. Be why can’t he read and interpret those numbers and as a result know that the economy is in decent shape, at least for the foreseeable future? Or not. Maybe the stock market is about to tank” (78). Explicate the implications for Fife of the passage.

Essay Topic 2

It is noted that “Leonard Fife claimed to be a refugee” (12). Does the novel bear out that claim? How or how not?

Essay Topic 3

Consider the following passage:

He likes the mingled odor of cigarettes and sweat and minty shampoo. He can’t catch the scent of much, but he can smell her. Young women, their scent is different and better than that of middle-aged and older women. It’s as if desire and longing for desire have distinct and different odors. When Emma leans down in the morning to kiss his cheek before leaving for their production company office downtown, he inhales the smell of English breakfast tea and unscented soap. The odor of a longing for desire. This young woman, Sloan, she smells of desire itself (7-8).

What tone does the passage convey? How does it do so?

(see the answer keys)

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