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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. How does Joe finally get fired?

2. Why is Joe not too upset about being deaf?

3. What famous person flies into Joe's hometown one day?

4. What does Joe ask Kareen in his dream?

5. What does Joe find out when someone finally answers the phone?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Joe think about doctors and war?

2. What does Joe think guys should do when called up for the military?

3. What does Joe see on the way home from the train station?

4. When did Joe become aware of the war and what events in the war occurred at that time?

5. Where does Joe see Jose while he's lying in bed, what does he ask him and what does Joe figure out?

6. Why does Joe wish someone would pick up the phone and what happens when they do?

7. What does Joe think when he thinks of his family and what does he see as the reality?

8. Why doesn't Joe worry about loss of appetite?

9. What doesn't Joe understand about being alive?

10. Who does Joe call out to in his nightmare and why?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

When one is unconscious, there is no such thing as time, and when fading in and out, people feel time bunch up--like women in labor for three days saying it seems like ten hours. Considering he may have been like this for two years, Bonham feels a panicky dread. He needs to "trap" time and get back into the world. Discuss one of the following:

1. How does Joe Bonham think of time and eventually "trap" time?

2. What are the ways humans measure time and why does Bonham have such difficulty figuring out a system to measure time? Why do you think he wants to know about the passage of time?

3. What are the advantages and disadvantages of the construct of time? Use examples both from the text and your own experience.

Essay Topic 2

When a new nurse if finally able to understand that Joe is tapping out words using Morse Code, hope and joy infuse Joe. Discuss the following:

1. How does Joe finally manage to communicate with the new nurse?

2. What are Joe's reactions to communicating? Give examples.

3. Why do you think Joe offers to be a "circus" exhibit? Do you think he would eventually regret such an offer? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 3

One of the images in the book is the returning to the womb of an adult. Joe often expresses a feeling of being in a womb. When he first begins assessing his situation in the hospital, he expresses the desire that his mother care for him as he saw her care for his youngest sister, Elizabeth. Discuss the following:

1. How is the image of being in a womb both a positive and negative one in the book?

2. Why do you think Joe yearns for his mother to treat him like his young sister? Do you think his mother would be willing to care for Joe?

3. Many people who are dying, especially unexpectedly or in combat, call out for "mother." Discuss why you think this is so and include examples from the text.

(see the answer keys)

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