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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 are Billy's parents worried in "Projection"?

2. Who do baby bird's parents take their anger out on?

3. What, according to Oedipus, has external knowledge buried?

4. What does Cassandra argue is the fundamental aspect of human existence?

5. What happens to the person the man encounters on the bridge?

Short Essay Questions

1. How are the characters of Faust and Oedipus similar?

2. How does the interlude end?

3. What does the report in "Raising Cain: A Case History of the First Family" study?

4. How does the man's attitude in "An American Holly" change from beginning to end?

5. What does Oedipus argue is the best way for humans to find truth?

6. What is the significance of the man crossing the bridge in the story of the "The Bridge"?

7. What finally convinces baby bird to leave the nest?

8. What does the line "the essential difficulty in trying to communicate with another is how to get past the interference of the resistance demons who inhabit that other" mean?

9. How is John treated by others in "Nervous Condition" and why?

10. Why is baby bird rebelling against his parents and how does he rebel?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is the significance of a title of your choice? Address how the title relates to the chapter and what the title might mean in the context of the book. How does the title reflect or fail to reflect the moral of the story?

Essay Topic 2

What do you believe Edwin Friedman means when he writes "It's in the interpretation," he says. "It's all in the interpretation". Does this remove responsibility from the writer when creating a story? How so?

Essay Topic 3

How does the umbilical cord relate to Edwin Friedman's themes of intimacy? What does the man's discomfort with the island inhabitants say about his issues with intimacy?

(see the answer keys)

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