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. Where does Smolka go on to be a professor as an adult?

2. What does the protagonist worry he will catch from Bubbles?

3. What did the narrator write as his favorite profession when he was in eighth grade?

4. Who is the renowned columnist whom the narrator speaks of having shaken his hand?

5. What unnerves the narrator about the Monkey?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the memories of the Monkey conjure in Alex's memory in Chapter 4?

2. How did Alex feel about having "a real" relationship with the Monkey?

3. What happened on the trip with the Monkey that began to change their relationship?

4. What happened with Mandel and Bubbles? What does this prompt the narrator to need to know?

5. What story does Alex tell of the Monkey with the married couple?

6. Who is Bubbles? What was she to Alex?

7. What does Alex say about the photo of Jesus in Bubbles's house?

8. What does the narrator retell about the burlesque show in Chapter 4?

9. Who is the second shikse Alex speaks about being involved with in Chapter 5? How is she described?

10. What does the narrator recall which might be "the root of his problems" in Chapter 4 regarding his mother?

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 "Stream of Consciousness" as a stylistic device in the novel. How does this impact the reader's understanding? How does this affect the flow of time?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the Oedipus Complex as it applies to the main character of Portnoy's Complaint. What emotions and experiences support this theme?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 739 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample