View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What "bomb" does Ellen Cherry get in the mail?
(a) Divorce papers.
(b) An invitation to Boomer's art show.
(c) A plane ticket to Jerusalem.
(d) News of Buddy's death.

2. What is Turn Around Norman's trick?
(a) Dancing.
(b) Backflips.
(c) Walking on his hands through revolving doors.
(d) Turning around slowly.

3. How does Spoon end up with Ellen Cherry?
(a) Spoon gets mixed up with the silverware at the I & I.
(b) Ellen Cherry picks Spoon up lying in front of the Cathedral.
(c) Ellen Cherry sees spoon trying to jump in Turn Around Norman's case.
(d) Spoon jumps into a paper bag Ellen Cherry is carrying.

4. What event keeps being repeated at the I & I?
(a) Shootings.
(b) Art shows.
(c) Sightings of famous people.
(d) Bomb threats.

5. What does Buddy get in trouble with law for doing?
(a) Urinating in public.
(b) Hitting Patsy.
(c) Preaching outside a restaurant.
(d) Speeding.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why does Boomer think that Ellen Cherry "can't be married to a man"?

2. Who mends Can 'o Beans with a welding torch?

3. What frustrates Boomer about people's reaction to the Turkey?

4. What does Ellen Cherry invite Boomer to do in order to seduce him?

5. What request does Ellen Cherry make of Spike and Abu?

Short Essay Questions

1. Explain the symbolism of the I & I.

2. Describe the sculpture that Boomer is bringing to Jerusalem to reassemble.

3. What is the relationship between the first veil that is revealed and the actions of the novel so far?

4. What are some ways you can interpret Boomer's spy coat sculpture in which he declares his love for Ellen Cherry in a 500 different encoded messages?

5. Robbins writes, "Those people who recognize that imagination is reality's master, we call 'sages', and those who act upon it, we call 'artists.'" What do you think he means by this and why is the distinction important?

6. What do you think Robbins is saying by personifying objects and having them secretly move?

7. Why do you think that Ellen Cherry covers a nude portrait of Boomer with tongues?

8. When Ellen Cherry reflects on Boomer's fear that she loves art more than him, she admits that it's true, but adds that she loves art more than herself too. What does this tell us about Ellen Cherry and about her opinion of art?

9. The first line in this section is "the pendulum swung yet again." It is referring to Can 'o Beans account of religious history. What does this suggest about religion?

10. The Third Veil turns out to be the veil of political illusion. Robbins says that politics is "the compulsion to preside over property and make other people's decisions for them." He says that liberty can't be a result of political action. In what ways does this seem true and in what ways not true?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,373 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample