View a FREE sample

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 mother's name?

2. How old is the narrator in the present in Chapter 4, part 2?

3. What does the narrator's mother tell him to give to his father in Chapter 4?

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

5. What does the narrator's mother threaten him with when he refuses to eat dinner?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

8. What does the narrator suspect about the shikse who came to his family's house? Why?

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the theme of Guilt/Shame in the novel. How does this relate to the narrator's feelings of rebellion? Where does this emotion resonate the most in the narrator? How does this affect his actions in the novel?

Essay Topic 2

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 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.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 819 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample