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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. Where does Barry say he is from at the Tranquility house?

2. How much money did Sorry receive for the drug trial she participated in?

3. What is Penny doing when she is first introduced in 2005?

4. According to Sorry, how many people in the West Bank have Jordanian passports?

5. In what month does Penny first go to Jersey City to find her grandparents' house?

Short Essay Questions

1. Where is the opening scene of the novel set? What is the significance of this setting?

2. What are Norm's circumstances in 2016? Where is he?

3. Who is Rob and how does Penny meet him?

4. How is Amalia described when she first appears in the 2016 timeline? What is her relationship like with Penny?

5. What are Penny's impressions when she goes to the Stayfree house with Sorry for a potluck?

6. How is Penny's Manhattan apartment described? Why is she forced to vacate it?

7. Why does Penny keep her family associations with Nicotine secret when she first meets the inhabitants?

8. What is the symbolic significance of the water glasses that recur in the story?

9. Who is Naomi? What are Penny's and Norm's thoughts about her?

10. What happens when Norm encounters Schubert in 2016? How does Penny interpret this action?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss and analyze the characters of Matt and Patrick in the novel. How old are these characters? What were their relationships like with their father? Who was their mother and what became of her?

Essay Topic 2

Describe and analyze the plot structure of Nicotine. What inciting incident kicks off the story? Where does the climax occur? What information is related in the falling action and denouement of the plot? How "traditional" is this plot structure?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the journey made by Rob, Jazz, and Sorry in the novel. Where do they go? Why are they fleeing Jersey City? What destination do they finally arrive at? Where do they go in the ending of the novel?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 770 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample