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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. Who had the Monkey previously married?

2. What does the narrator say he did after the incident with the prostitute?

3. What is the title of Chapter 6?

4. Who does the narrator refer to as his "final downfall and humiliation" in Chapter 6?

5. What is the name of the girl whom the narrator watches doing figure eights on the ice rink?

Short Essay Questions

1. What attracts Alex to Naomi? How does he express his feelings for her?

2. What does Alex remark about Israel?

3. What does the narrator say about the Monkey's life story in Chapter 4?

4. Who does Alex describe as the first of the shikses he had a relationship with? What attracted him to her?

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

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

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

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

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

10. Why did Alex and Kay almost marry? What caused him to end the relationship?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the story of Cousin Heshie and how this relates to the narrator. How did this event and the surrounding circumstances shade his view of shikses and rebellion?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the plot structure of Portnoy's Complaint. How is this novel constructed differently than the traditional structure of literature? How can one determine the rising action, climax, and falling action in the novel?

Essay Topic 3

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.

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