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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 did Norm attend graduate school?

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

3. What does Rob say Anka does for a living?

4. What word used in the novel refers to the practice among those with power or influence favoring relatives or friends by giving them jobs?

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

Short Essay Questions

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

2. How is Norm described in 2005? What is his relationship with Penny like based on this scene?

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

4. Who is present when Norm dies? How is this event described?

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

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

7. What is the relationship like between Matt and Penny?

8. How is Norm's childhood home described when Penny finds it in 2016?

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

10. Why is Norm's childhood home called "Nicotine"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Define satire and irony and discuss how these terms apply to Nicotine. What are examples of dramatic irony in the story? What verbal irony can be seen? How does the author incorporate situational irony in the narrative?

Essay Topic 2

Describe and discuss three examples of foreshadowing and/or red herrings in Nicotine. What event is foreshadowed? How is it foreshadowed? Does the action play out according to the clues? What effect does each example have on the reader?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the symbolism of nicotine in the novel. What does nicotine in its various forms (chew, cigarettes, cigars, etc.) represent to the main characters? Why is the squatter house named Nicotine? How does irony apply to this name?

(see the answer keys)

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