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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. Who is the narrator sitting next to on the bus in Chapter 4?

2. What is the name of the narrator's sister?

3. Who is the woman whom the narrator has a longer affair with than most?

4. What does the narrator say that with sex the human imagination runs to?

5. What is the term used for a non-Jewish girl?

Short Essay Questions

1. What story does the narrator tell about Ronald Nimkin?

2. What frustration does the narrator express in Chapter 4 about his job and his parents' view of it?

3. What story does Alex tell about his mother and lobster?

4. What does Alex say his parents complain about regarding his sister and her husband in Chapter 4?

5. What does the narrator's mother believe he has been eating in Chapter 2? How does she react?

6. What does the narrator speak of regarding his humiliations with his mother as a child in Chapter 3?

7. About what do the narrator's parents coddle him regarding his knee in Chapter 4?

8. What were the narrator's father's ambitions for him growing up?

9. Who does the main character think all of his teachers are in disguise? Why?

10. What became of the narrator's cousin? Why?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the different types of conflict in Portnoy's Complaint. What is the predominant conflict of the novel? What are some of the conflicts the narrator describes between himself and others?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the role of bigotry and racism in Portnoy's Complaint. Which characters embody racist traits? How does the narrator relate these? How does this affect the narrator's career choice?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the theme of Sexual Obsession in Portnoy's Complaint. How does this theme intertwine with the other themes presented? How does this aspect of the narrator's personality drive his action?

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