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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 topic do Konno and Lee most often discuss?

2. Why does Robert not want to buy from Ferrie?

3. Ostensibly, how did David Ferrie die?

4. Who is Robert Sproul?

5. What information does Win want revealed to the public as a result of the assassination attempt?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Lee Oswald do on his base in Atsugi?

2. Who is Walter Everett, Jr.?

3. What information about Oswald does Win receive at the beginning of June 19th?

4. Why do Lee and Marguerite argue in New Orleans?

5. What confidential information does Lee reveal to Konno in Atsugi?

6. How does Lee meet Konno in Atsugi?

7. What does Win Everett decide about the assassination location in 26 April?

8. What does Lee read about in New Orleans?

9. Why is Lee Oswald punished before shipping out?

10. Describe the colorful conversation Bannister has at a bar on June 19th.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay about the nihilistic tone of Libra. To what extend do the events of the novel add up to a sum of nothing thematically? What impels Lee Oswald toward his final end? Does Win Everett achieve anything he intended? In the end, does President Kennedy die for any reason? Discuss if the world of Libra is one in which fate or some higher power guides characters' ends.

Essay Topic 2

Throughout the novel Lee Oswald seems uncomfortable with the notion of his own sexuality. In a three-part essay, explore how Oswald tries and fails to explore his sexual being and falls deeper into his own darkness as a result.

Part 1) Discuss Lee Oswald's romantic life in Atsugi. What is the nature of the woman to whom he loses his virginity? How does she initiate him into the realm of sexuality? What must he give up to her companions as a result?

Part 2) How does Lee Oswald meet Marina, and how does their romantic relationship develop? Discuss the process by which their relationship deteriorates, and how they relate to each other by the end of the novel.

Part 3) Discuss Lee's relationship with Dave Ferrie. How do they first meet, and is it readily apparent that Ferrie wants Oswald? How does this relationship develop? How does the sexual ambiguity of both men become apparent?

Essay Topic 3

The assassination passage of Libra is a harrowing and disturbing series of pages, but it clearly elucidates the reality of the day. In an essay, discuss how Don DeLillo frames the events on November 22, 1963 in this passage. Whose point of view does the author tell the assassination from? Is the passage linear in its chronology? How does the author eventually make clear who killed Kennedy?

(see the answer keys)

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