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| Name: _________________________ | Period: ___________________ |
This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.
Short Answer Questions
1. Who mends Can 'o Beans with a welding torch?
2. What new piece of art does Boomer create?
3. Where is Painted Stick abandoned?
4. What does Ellen Cherry paint shortly after beginning work at the I & I?
5. Where are Ellen Cherry and Boomer first intimate while on their road trip?
Short Essay Questions
1. Describe Ellen Cherry's eye game.
2. 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?
3. Why does Ellen Cherry give up her art?
4. Why do you think that Ellen Cherry wants Boomer to call her "Jezebel" when they are intimate?
5. Patsy suspects Buddy of seeking fame and fortune through his preaching. Does this seem likely to you, based on what you know so far about Buddy?
6. What are the the origins of Spike Cohen's foot fetish?
7. Why does Boomer turn an airstream into a Turkey?
8. What do you think is significant about the fact that Boomer and Ellen Cherry wake up Painted Stick and Conch Shell?
9. 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?
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
How does nature figure into this novel? Consider the instances where people or objects come into contact with nature or natural forces. For example, when the objects are making their way to New York, they encounter several natural obstacles along the way. Do these events (or others that involve contact with nature) have a significance beyond their function in the plot? For example, is the natural world a place where things are possible that aren't in the city? Are the events individually symbolic?
Essay Topic 2
All the objects, except Can 'o Beans, are given a gender. Provide an analysis of the objects in terms of gender and consider why Can 'o Beans is left genderless. What qualities do each object represent? Are these characteristics typically associated with the gender that object is assigned?
Essay Topic 3
How does the historical perspective provided by the objects, Spike, and Abu influence the way we perceive the events of the story? Is the story be the same without Robbins' historical account and interpretation of the conflict in Jerusalem? In what ways is it different? Cite at least three specific examples where the historical background has a significant impact on the reader's understanding of the narrative.
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This section contains 1,282 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) |
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