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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 is attacked by a porcupine?

2. Who watches Buddy preaching to Ellen Cherry?

3. After sleeping together, what do Ellen Cherry and Boomer leave behind?

4. What is Ellen Cherry's job in New York?

5. Who offers to display Ellen Cherry's painting?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe Turn Around Norman's Activity. How is it important in the novel?

2. What does Ellen Cherry mean when she says that "'political art' is a contradiction in terms"?

3. Do you see any irony in Salome's determination only to do the Dance of the Seven Veils if she can have John the Baptist's head on a platter? Why or why not?

4. The fifth veil has to do with removing the illusion of the value of money. Is money's value really an illusion? Explain why or why not.

5. What are the the origins of Spike Cohen's foot fetish?

6. Describe Ellen Cherry and Boomer's relationship since he's become an well-known artist.

7. 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?

8. Explain the symbolism of the I & I.

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

10. When Buddy goes to answer a knock at his door, he has an erection from reading about a Christian wife who goes to bed with her make-up on. What does this incident tell us about Buddy?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Compare the contrast the two radically different political positions represented by Spike and Abu on the one hand and Buddy on the other. What do they each think about the conflict in the middle east? How do their ideas, both about it's background and the best possible resolution to the conflict, differ? Consider the problem or issue of interpretation in history.

Essay Topic 2

Explore the significance of the title. Ellen Cherry comments that Salome has skinny legs for a belly dancer. Why do you think that Robbins chose this as the defining moment of the novel?

Essay Topic 3

Choose one of the lessons revealed by each veil. Track that theme throughout the book, finding specific examples where it is explored by one or more characters and/or the narrative progression. Is there a linear development, where the character's perception changes over the course of the novel? Or is it simply elaborated and clarified? Does the lesson you chose seem specific to one character or do multiple characters reveal different aspects or possibilities?

(see the answer keys)

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