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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 the narrator's cousin's name who lives in Newark?

2. What is the narrator's name?

3. What was in the letter that Ronald Nimkin left as his final words to his mother?

4. Who does the narrator's father hold up as someone to emulate in life?

5. What non-kosher food does the narrator have for dinner while out with his sister?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. What does Alex remark about his father's bowel movements in Chapter 4?

4. What do Alex and his parents argue about after their dinner in Chapter 4?

5. What does the narrator say he grew up to NOT be, at least, in Chapter 4? Why?

6. What are the protagonist's principle memories of his father from early childhood?

7. What does the narrator's father urge him to take lessons in? Why?

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

9. What body-related incidents does the narrator recall in Chapter 3?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

Discuss the phrase "Living a Jewish Joke." How does this resonate as an important element of Portnoy's Complaint? How does the ending of the novel revisit this line?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss Roth's use of foreshadowing in Portnoy's Complaint. How does the atypical structure of the plot create a window for foreshadowing? Define this term and give examples of foreshadowing in the text.

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