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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 does Wilhelm whine about during breakfast with Dr. Adler and Mr. Perls?

2. What are Wilhelm and Tamkin doing together at the beginning of the novel?

3. What do Dr. Adler and Mr. Perls think of Tamkin?

4. What was Dr. Adler's former career?

5. Why was Dr. Adler never around in Wilhelm's childhood?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Tamkin's interesting theory about why Dr. Adler is so difficult with Wilhelm?

2. What strikes Wilhelm most about the dead man?

3. Wilhelm says of Tamkin, "I am on his back--his back." What does he mean by this?

4. What is Wilhelm's opinion on city life?

5. What does Wilhelm notice about Tamkin's clothes in Chapter 5?

6. When does Wilhelm use the car he parks on the street in the city? Where does he go?

7. In the beginning of Chapter 6, Tamkin shares the story of his own father. What is it?

8. Dr. Adler says to Wilhelm, "It doesn't enter your mind that when I die--a year, two years from now--you'll still be here." What does he mean to say and what impression does he give Wilhelm instead?

9. Describe Wilhelm's first impressions of Mr. Perls in Chapter 2.

10. In Chapter 4, what is the reason that Tamkin cannot invest as much money in the stock market as Wilhelm?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Alienation is a motif we see most readily in Wilhelm. He has alienated himself from family, friends, and the world in general.

Part 1) Are there other characters in the book who are also alienated? Which ones? Why would you categorize them as alienated?

Part 2) How does Tamkin take advantage of alienation to serve his own purpose with Wilhelm? Cite specific examples from the text.

Part 3) Would you consider Tamkin to also be alienated? Why or why not? How does this impact the other characters in the story?

Essay Topic 2

When we meet Wilhelm, he considers himself a complete failure. The motif of failure reappears throughout the book.

Part 1) Why is failure significant in this story? What is Wilhelm's relationship with failure?

Part 2) Sometimes failure is defined by its inverse - success. How does Dr. Adler's success help illuminate not only Wilhelm's failure, but some of his own shortcomings?

Part 3) What does Wilhelm learn from his failure, if anything? Do you think he will apply these lessons to his life beyond the book? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 3

Point of view has such a presence in the book that it is almost another character.

Part 1) What point of view does the narrator use in the book? Why is it significant?

Part 2) How does this point of view affect our perception of Wilhelm as a character? Why?

Part 3) How would the book be different if told from a different point of view?

(see the answer keys)

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