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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. According to Bannister on June 19th, who does Kennedy travel with at all times?

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

3. Which failed operation is Parmenter fixated on in 20 May?

4. What does Win talk to his wife about at the end of the chapter?

5. How does Lee know where to find Mitsuko?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Lee fair in the brig?

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

3. What plans does Parmenter tell Mackey on May 20th?

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

5. What does Lee read about in New Orleans?

6. Discuss how Branch sees death surrounding Oswald?

7. What initial actions do the CIA men take for their plan on April 17th?

8. Why is Lee Oswald punished before shipping out?

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

10. What does Lee dream about doing while in New Orleans?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The character of Lee Oswald in Libra is an ambiguous figure, one whose loyalty is never clear as he moves from place to place and relationship to relationship. Write a three-part essay analyzing the shifting loyalties Oswald illustrates throughout the novel:

Part 1) Discuss Oswald's defection to the Soviet Union. At what point in his life does he decide that he should live in a Communist country? How does Soviet society appeal to Lee Oswald, and why does he eventually decide to return to the United States?

Part 2) What is Lee Oswald's life like in New Orleans. Why does he become friends with right wingers life Bannister and Ferrie despite his leftist leanings? Discuss his reasons for working in Bannister's office and why these conservative players tolerate his pro-Castro literature.

Part 3) Discuss the mindset that Oswald displays as he waits in his jail cell following Kennedy's murder. How does he rationalize his participation in the murder plot? What defense does he think he can present to authorities? How does this represent a fractured psyche?

Essay Topic 2

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?

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay about Lee Oswald's private relationship with the concept of history. At what point in Oswald's personal development does he begin to consider himself a major player of history? How does he try to impress himself upon the scope of history? Discuss the process by which Oswald realizes he will not affect history in a positive way, and how this skews his view of the world.

(see the answer keys)

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