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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 the narrator's father say his cousin Toby will never want for popularity?

2. What is the title of Chapter 2?

3. What does the narrator's mother do when he does something wrong?

4. Where did American Nazis hold picnics only blocks from the narrator's house?

5. How old is the narrator's previous girlfriend when they broke up?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

5. What is the story the narrator tells in the beginning of Chapter 4? Why does he do what he does in this story?

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

7. How does the narrator describe his sister in their early years?

8. What resentments does the narrator recall following the family's move from Jersey City?

9. Who does the narrator's father hold up as someone to emulate? Why?

10. How does the narrator feel about the laws of Judaism?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the theme of religion in Portnoy's Complaint. How does the narrator express his issues with Judaism? What are his feelings toward Christianity? How does religion tie into the other themes in the novel?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the story of The Monkey. How does the timeline of actual events differ with the narrative of the protagonist? What does this inform us of Alex's character?

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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