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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. Where did the narrator's father take him once a month when he was young?

2. What does the narrator have a difficult time believing in?

3. Where does the narrator's mother accuse him of going to eat in Chapter 2?

4. What is not kosher after eating meat?

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

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Where does the narrator's father work? What line of business is he in? Where is his "route?"

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

4. What does the narrator's mother do to him when he is "bad?" How does he react?

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

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

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

8. How did the narrator's father feel about his job? How did he express his feelings to his family?

9. Why does the young Alex believe he has cancer?

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

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

What are the predominant metaphors in Portnoy's Complaint? How does the author "set up" these metaphors? How do these major metaphors recur in the text? Define "metaphor" in your answer.

Essay Topic 3

Compare and contrast the characters of Portnoy's parents. How do his mother and father compare as role models? Who is the dominant figure? How does the protagonist feel about each parent?

(see the answer keys)

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