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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 is Moji reading during her picnic in Central Park with Julius and his friend and his friend’s girlfriend Lise-Anne?

2. Why does Julius say he avoided visiting Dr. Saito again while he was dying?

3. What does Julius tell his friend he wanted from Dr. Saito in Chapter 15?

4. What does Julius say is the greatest trial Dr. Saito has endured?

5. What is the state of Dr. Saito’s mind when Julius goes to visit him in Chapter 15?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens to Julius when he forgets to bring his checkbook to the accountant, and why is it disturbing?

2. What odd scene does Julius witness in the diner, where someone is learning Chinese?

3. How does Julius respond when Moji tells Julius that she has never forgotten him sexually assaulting her when they were students?

4. What is it that Julius says cut him to the quick when he was talking with Dr. Maillotte over dinner?

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

6. What was the last time before his fathers funeral that Julius says that he had seen a dead body?

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

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

9. How is Julius affected by his thoughts about slavery in New York?

10. How does the model of New York from the 1964 World’s Fair serve as a metaphor for the book?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Is this a novel with a moral center and a single cluster of fixations buried in a welter of urban impressions? Or is it a scattered inventory of experiences that never really define a central set of concerns in the author’s life? Is this a book about a man’s psychology, or a book about a man’s views of New York City?

Essay Topic 2

When is Open City most itself? What is its characteristic passage, or moment? What makes that moment or passage the most representative of the book as a whole? Are there any places where the book seems to depart from its typical self, as if to become a different book?

Essay Topic 3

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

(see the answer keys)

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