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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 he insist on living a grand style in Europe?

2. What does Father observe about the game of baseball as opposed to the way they played at Harvard twenty years before?

3. On the milk train going back to New Rochelle, what does Younger Brother contemplate?

4. Why does Coalhouse accept Younger Brother's help?

5. What became the decorating theme of that day after Morgan talked to Henry Ford?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Younger Brother do that the family is completely unaware of?

2. What does Morgan think about making automobiles available to the masses?

3. What becomes of Younger Brother?

4. How does Mother's and Father's relationship change in Atlantic City?

5. What causes the theater to shake where Houdini is performing?

6. What is Sarah's funeral like?

7. What does Father decide to do to make up for the time he has not spent with The Boy?

8. What suddenly worries Sarah after the Fire House incident?

9. What remarkable innovation in manufacturing took place about this time?

10. Why does Father return alone to New York, leaving the family in Atlantic City.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Do some research and write a brief paper on J. Pierpont Morgan. Political cartoons of his time pictured Morgan as being bigger than Uncle Sam. In fact, he did bail out the U.S. economy at one time. There is even an undertone of racism in Morgan in the novel when he cables the D. A. to give Coalhouse his auto and hang him. From your research, explain how Doctorow's use of Morgan in the novel is believable.

Essay Topic 2

Write a paper on racial discrimination in the North at the turn of the century. The commonly held belief is that racial discrimination is exclusive to the South. The story of RAGTIME takes place in New York, Philadelphia, New England, and Atlantic City. Point out the many examples Doctorow gives of discrimination against blacks and Jews in the novel.

Essay Topic 3

Coalhouse Walker, Jr., plays Scott Joplin ragtime in the novel. Do some research and write a brief paper about the composer Scott Joplin. Why does Doctorow use the musical genre as the title of his book? To what extent do you think the music of an era defines that era?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 671 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample