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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. Why does Julius say he is hesitant to call Nadège in Chapter 12?

2. How does Julius characterize the effect Mahler’s symphony has on him?

3. What kind of music does the band play, that marches past the store where Julius stops in Chinatown in Chapter 16?

4. Who does Julius ask for help after being beaten and robbed?

5. While Julius watches the snowflakes come down after meeting with his accountant in Chapter 13, he feels a furious sense of what?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the leap in time and setting that has taken place between chapters 20 and 21?

2. What experience does Julius have in Chinatown, that gives him the “disorientation and bliss” of living in his childhood self again?

3. Why has Julius missed Dr. Saito’s death?

4. How does Julius react to Dr. Saito’s death?

5. What is the vision Julius has while he is sitting in the park, watching the starlings?

6. What does Julius say his relationship with winter is like?

7. How does Julius explain his views about psychiatry to his friend?

8. What is the postcard Julius keeps on the corkboard behind his desk?

9. How is Julius affected by V.’s death?

10. What is Julius’ reaction to meeting Moji Kasali?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Where is the climax of this book? Are there different climaxes? What questions does each climax resolve? What questions does each climax leave unanswered?

Essay Topic 2

Who is the audience for Open City? What is the ideal reader for Open City likely to think about the book’s main topics? How does this book try to affect the reader? What is it trying to teach him or her, or get him or her to do?

Essay Topic 3

Evaluate your own reading of Open City—did you resist it, or were you compelled by the story? What does your reading tell you about yourself and your interests? Use specific examples from the book to describe yourself as a reader.

(see the answer keys)

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