View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. What consolation does Julius try to avoid offering himself, after being beaten up and robbed?

3. Who does Julius feel watched by as he goes to the post office in Chapter 16?

4. What part of academia does Julius say he has never had a stomach for?

5. What does Julius say the snow-covered city makes him feel in Chapter 14?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

8. What are Julius’ dreams like, after he hears about Dr. Saito’s bedbugs?

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

How does Julius grow or change over the course of the novel? What is he like at the start of the novel, and what is he like at the end? What are the main events that may have changed him? How do you account for the changes he undergoes? Or, how do you account for his lack of change?

Essay Topic 3

Would you recommend Open City to a friend? What kind of friend would you recommend Open City to? What kind of friend would you not recommend this book to? What does this distinction tell you about the qualities of the novel itself? What does it tell you about your own critical values?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,134 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample