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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 does Karen say is watching the thousands of marching Chinese?

2. Where does Brita meet Karen?

3. What accent does Karen imitate while in bed with Scott?

4. A pair of local militias are firing at what?

5. What dictator does the Beatles song mention?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Bill realize about his writing in this section?

2. What does Scott find out about Bill in this section?

3. What does Bill think about Charlie?

4. Why doesn't George like using a word processor?

5. Who is Omar and how does he help Karen?

6. How does Karen become acquainted with the homeless people?

7. What does Scott think about in Bill's office?

8. Summarize the novel.

9. How does Brita react to Rashid's comments about Mao?

10. Describe the part of Beirut Brita is driving through at the beginning of the section.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What does the Mao picture symbolize in the context of the story? How is Mao compared to the main character Bill?

Essay Topic 2

Identify the main themes of the story. In what way are these themes relevant to the period? How does the author use character and setting to express these themes?

Essay Topic 3

Who were the Moonies? What influence did they have on American popular culture during the seventies? Why does Karen find it so difficult to escape them both physically and mentally? Why does the author represent them as threatening? Is this an accurate representation?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 766 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample