View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. In college, how did Clewes betray Starbuck?

2. Vicuna is a metaphor for _______.

3. What is Starbuck's relationship with his prison guard?

4. One of the factory workers was whose mother?

5. Why was Ruth reserved about relationships?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did Starbuck come to be a millionaire? Why isn't he anymore?

2. How did Starbuck become involved in the Watergate Scandal?

3. Is an event's existence or its meaning more important to Starbuck? How?

4. What is the significance of "Kilgore Trout" being a pseudonym?

5. What is being foreshadowed in the Prologue?

6. Is "The Sermon on the Mount" a reasonable defense for Sacco and Vanzetti? Why or why not?

7. What do we learn about Starbuck by his attitude towards the red ribbon?

8. How is Fender's story of Vicuna a metaphor?

9. How did Starbuck meet his wife, Ruth? Why was the beginning of their relationship rocky?

10. How is the theme of interconnection displayed through Starbuck's narrative voice?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss whose story "Jailbird" is telling.

Essay Topic 2

A majority of Starbuck's story in "Jailbird" is reflection on the past and how he came to be as he is in the present. Discuss Starbuck's retrospective point of view with him and his reality.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss how memory affects characters. Include the significance one's memories have on the individual and the individual's actions. How do the memories of one individual affect others?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 666 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample