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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 does Brenda allow Neil to do as they play in the pool?

2. What is a reminder of the Patimkin family's past life in Newark?

3. What does Aunt Gladys say she and Max were able to do because they lived over their store?

4. In the basement, what is next to a photo of Brenda on a horse?

5. How does Brenda change the subject and get Neil to stop playing?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Brenda do that suggests she is very infatuated with Neil?

2. Contrast Aunt Gladys and Mrs. Patimkin from the conversation Gladys and Neil have about the Patimkin house.

3. How does the reader know that Neil is restless and bored babysitting Julie?

4. How does Neil feel sitting at the table with the Patimkin family?

5. Why is Neil not conscious of class distinctions?

6. What is a noticeable difference between dinner at the Patimkins' house and dinner in the Klugman house?

7. Tell how the relationship has developed between Neil and the boy who comes to look at the Gauguin book.

8. What is the image the reader gets of Ron as he joins Neil and Brenda at the pool?

9. What evidence is there that Brenda is driven by appearances?

10. What is Mrs. Patimkin's athletic involvement?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How well do you think Roth depicts Mrs. Patimkin? Is she three dimensional in the book? Why is her first name never mentioned?

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay that depicts Brenda as a drama queen who comes to the hotel in New York with a carefully worked out script for breaking off with Neil. The scene will contain props to make her story more believable such as the letters from her parents and the fake wedding band.

Essay Topic 3

Explain whether you agree that Ron's behavior indicates that he is immature and not ready to become a husband and father. Give examples from passages in the book.

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This section contains 711 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample