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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. Why is it difficult for Peter Keating to decide what to do after graduation?

2. What does Peter learn from Francon?

3. What is Peter's condition when he visits Katie and insists they marry the following day?

4. What does Toohey say about himself that other people think he is joking about?

5. When Dominique offers to have her marriage to Peter annulled, what is Roark's reaction?

Short Essay Questions

1. Both Dominique and Toohey want to destroy Roark's career. Contrast their reasons for wanting to do so.

2. What is meant by the description of the Stoddard temple as being "like a corpse hacked to pieces and reassembled?"

3. Describe the character flaws in Peter Keating in regard to both Heyer's death and his winning the Cosmo-Slotnik competition.

4. Peter's lack of integrity comes to light in his efforts to get Claude Stengel's job. How does the method he uses to accomplish his purpose relate to the theme of the book?

5. Ellsworth Toohey praises Francon's Melton Building because of its horizontal lines as opposed to the vertical lines of Cameron's skyscrapers. In what way does he think the horizontal lines are superior?

6. Explain how Roark's getting his hands dirty at a building site wins over the admiration of the electrician, Mike.

7. Discuss Rand's use of premonition in chapter 12 when Katie shows up at Peter's apartment.

8. Considering the number of jobs Roark did not get or turned down, explain the difference between Roark and Peter Keating.

9. Discuss Dominique's idea that beautiful things should not exist in the real world.

10. Discuss how Rand accuses critics of distorting reality when Peter finally meets Toohey.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Kiki Holcombe is a follower, but not like the people Ellsworth Toohey controls. Kiki is shallow and only interested in social status. Write an essay expressing your feelings about social climbing and insincerity.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay that explains the fall of Peter Keating and the reasons for that fall.

Essay Topic 3

As the book opens, Roark is poised to dive into the ocean. He is alone on a granite cliff and looking down at the crashing waves below. What is feelings can be derived from that picture about (A) Roark, (B) the granite cliffs, (C) the water below. Describe what each of those elements means to you.

(see the answer keys)

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