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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. How does Julius characterize his feeling when he is watching the marching band in Chinatown in Chapter 16?

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

3. What does Dr. Saito die of?

4. How old was Julius when Moji said he forced himself on her?

5. How many times does Julius try his PIN in various cash machines before he gives up in Chapter 13?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

4. What does the monument to the negro burial ground make Julius think about the reality of people in the past?

5. How does Julius describe the beating he suffered at the hands of the two youth?

6. What does Dr. Saito tell Julius when he visits him in his illness?

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

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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.

Essay Topic 2

What are the advantages and disadvantages of the style Cole uses for this novel? What does Cole gain by Julius’ impressions being so egalitarian? What does he lose by constantly changing focus, from one scene to the next, without building the kinds of personal drama we expect in a novel? How is this style fitted to the themes of Julius’ interests? Does it ultimately weigh in the book’s favor, or is its style an obstacle to the book’s meaning?

Essay Topic 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

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