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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. What instrument does Ziller play as Amanda sings during their first meeting?

2. For which college did Plucky play football?

3. In what city were forty of the entertainers in the Indo Tibetan Circus and Giant Panda Gypsy Blues Band arrested?

4. How does Plucky feel about Amanda?

5. How do Amanda and Ziller immediately feel about each other at first sight?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is Marx interested in working with John Paul and Amanda?

2. Who is Amanda?

3. What is significant about Plucky's job in logging?

4. What solution does Amanda come up with in regards to the animal portion of their zoo?

5. According to the jumps in the future with the narrator, what is significant about John Paul's disappearance?

6. What happens to Amanda's pregnancy?

7. How does John Paul pay for Amanda's hospitalization?

8. Describe Plucky's college football career.

9. How does Marx feel about John Paul and Amanda?

10. What are the differing opinions on the spiritual power of thunderstorms?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay about the clashes between the government and "normal" society with people such as the Zillers, the circus people, and Plucky Purcell. Detail the history behind the prejudices each group may hold about the other and how their interactions are based out of these ingrained biases. Also discuss how the discussions about the Corpse are reflective of the way these people have been treated by the government and mainstream society in the past. Be sure to develop a clear thesis statement and cite specific examples from the text to support your answers.

Essay Topic 2

What are the possibilities that Marx, Plucky, and Ziller consider for the Corpse and why? What are the pros and cons to every idea? How do their personal viewpoints affect their opinions on the Corpse's fate? What are some of the morally gray areas about which the four of them are forced to debate in this regard? Discuss the answers to these questions in an essay. Cite specific examples from the text to support your answers.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the importance of art in John Paul's life in the following format:

Part 1) Music.

Part 2) Sculpture as a metaphor.

Part 3) His fascination with the Corpse.

Part 4) Plucky's claim that artists believe all metaphors are real.

Part 5) His melding of sex and art in his relationship with Amanda.

Cite specific examples from the text to support your answers.

(see the answer keys)

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