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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. Where does Julius see Chinese women dancing, after seeing his accountant?

3. What does the fine weather on the day of the picnic in Central Park make Julius recall?

4. What is Julius’ reaction when he sees Hasidic Jews looking at Munkasci’s images of Goebbels?

5. How many people stayed overnight at John Musson’s apartment after his party?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. How does Julius kill half an hour when he is early to meet Dr. Maillotte?

4. What is Julius’ relationship like with the character he never names, but simply calls “my friend” (179)?

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

6. How does Julius characterize his trip to the tailor to get clothing for his father’s funeral?

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

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

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

10. How does Julius respond when his friend’s girlfriend Lise-Anne asks him about the most humorous cases he had seen among the mentally ill?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Identify the most important plot points in Open City. What is at stake in each of these moments? What possibilities do these moments present, and how are those possibilities channeled into specific actions or events? How does the plot chart its course among other alternative or possible plots?

Essay Topic 2

What topics would you like to research further, after reading Open City? Describe why additional research or reading would be beneficial to an understanding of this book. Propose a list of articles or books you would read in order to get a better handle on Open City.

Essay Topic 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

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