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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. In Chapter 25, what does Andy say you have to live with when you're middle class?

2. Why does Andy feel it was a mistake for him to come home for Christmas?

3. What is Elvissa's real name?

4. In Andy and Claire's eyes, where do the MacArthurs live permanently?

5. What kind of party has Dag arranged for he and Andy to work as bartenders at?

Short Essay Questions

1. According to Andy, why will this year's Christmas holiday be different at the Palmer home?

2. In Chapter 23 when Andy wakes up in the early morning and sees his friends asleep around him, how does he feel?

3. How does Elvissa get her name?

4. As he explains in Chapter 29, how does Dag think he will die?

5. What does Andy's mother say on the topic of children never leaving home?

6. What does Andy tell Dag about a little Japanese girl he lived with in Chapter 29?

7. What does Andy describe planing in his parents' back yard in Chapter 23?

8. In Chapter 17, what does Dag explain will be his memory of life on earth?

9. In Chapter 28, what do we find out was the reason Tobias was attracted to Claire?

10. What does Andy do for his family on Christmas morning?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the climax of the novel. What happens, and why is it significant? How does it impact the protagonist?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the use of metaphor in Generation X. How does Coupland's use of metaphors enhance the narrative? How does the use of metaphors reiterate the key themes of the novel?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the characters' hesitance with sharing their personal truths. How are the stories that Andy, Dag, and Claire tell one another only partly truthful? Why do these characters avoid sharing their personal stories with their closest friends? How do these characters grow in this regard as the novel progresses? By the end of the novel are these characters about to tell the whole truth, or do they continue to disguise the truth?

(see the answer keys)

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