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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 does Joe listening to a hooker feel dumb?

2. How does Joe feel when the nurse leaves the room?

3. To whom does Joe compare himself?

4. What do new nurses do with Joe?

5. How long does Joe think he's been unaware of time?

Short Essay Questions

1. What do you think it means when Joe thinks that two billion people have been pushing the lid of his coffin down and covering him with dirt and stone.

2. What does Joe imagine as he waits for the nurse to return and do you think he is overreacting?

3. What did Lucky survive in America and how did she survive it?

4. Why does Bonham lose track of everything and what does he do?

5. What does Bonham realize he wants?

6. What does Joe think is the key to knowing time and how does he plan to use the key?

7. What is Bonham's initial thought when asked what he wants and why do you think this is so?

8. Describe the process of the new nurse attempting to communicate with Joe.

9. What does Joe remember about New Year's Eve in Shale City and Los Angeles?

10. What does a doctor do when Joe keeps tapping and what does Joe think is the reason why?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The first section of the book begins a theme that finds its culmination in the final chapters--the idea of dying for one's country and "freedom." Discuss one of the following:

1. During the last conflict in which there was a draft (Vietnam), many men choose to leave the United States rather than fight in a war in which they do not believe. Discuss how Joe views his being drafted and the reasons he accepts his legal obligation. How does he think about this same subject near the end of the book?

2. Is it ever moral to refuse to serve one's country? Take a stance and give detailed examples to support it.

3. Compare and contrast a war/conflict in which the United States was involved which seemed justifiable with one that does not seem as such.

Essay Topic 2

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 3

If human beings are both body and spirit as many religions suggest, Joe seems to be existing in a grey area--neither fully body nor fully spirit. Discuss the following:

1. What aspects of Joe's present life are most like being in "spirit" form? Give examples and analyze your examples.

2. What aspects of Joe's present life are most like being in "corporal" form? Give examples and analyze your examples.

3. How does Joe's actions over the course of the novel demonstrate his preference for either aspect--body or spirit?

(see the answer keys)

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