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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 returns Spoon to Ellen Cherry?

2. Who does spoon hit when she falls out of the window of Ellen Cherry's apartment?

3. Why does Turn Around Norman stop performing?

4. Who commissions Boomer's sculpture in Jerusalem?

5. Who protects Spoon as she finds her way back to the Cathedral?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe what happens to Ellen Cherry when she plays the eye game looking at Spoon.

2. What is Uncle Buddy's reasoning for attempting to blow up the Dome of the Rock?

3. Painted Stick strikes a human in order to save Spoon from being picked up. Explain why he feels so bad about this.

4. Explain the conversation that Ellen Cherry has with Patsy on the phone the day after she sleeps with Spike.

5. What is the effect of the high definition TV that Spike gave to the I & I?

6. Why do you think Salome chooses to perform the Dance of the Seven Veils during the Super Bowl?

7. Without art and without Boomer, Ellen Cherry is beginning to feel that life is meaningless. What do you think Robbins is saying about the relationship between the meaning we give our lives and our endeavors and/or relationships?

8. Patsy tells Ellen Cherry that it seems like Boomer loves her but doesn't like her, while he likes but doesn't love Ultima. Does this seem like a true representation of Boomer's feelings, based on what you know about him so far?

9. Why do you think that Robbins ends the novel with Spoon?

10. Throughout the novel so far, Ellen Cherry seems to be cosmically bound to the group of objects. As they try to escape, Buddy catches two of them. Which objects does he catch and is Buddy also cosmically connected to the objects? Why?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Over the course of this novel, Ellen Cherry undergoes many personal changes. When we first meet her, she is an artist. Soon, however, she is married and struggling both with her art and her marriage. Ultimately, she seems to come to terms with both. How does she manage to do this? In what ways does Ellen Cherry change and grow as a person throughout the novel?

Essay Topic 2

Explore the significance of Isaac and Ishmael's. Describe the symbolism of the restaurant as well as it's political implications. The narrator talks a lot about this in the fourth veil, when the restaurant is introduced. Include this information, but don't limit your discussion to it. You may also want to consider the significance of Spike and Abu's backgrounds and characters.

Essay Topic 3

Work out a detailed character analysis of Buddy. Consider his political and religious views, his actions, his desires, his past, his physical appearance, and his voice. Is he a consistent character? Can you discover some hint of his psychological condition? What leads him to his radical views? Does he strike you as a realistic character? How does his personality play into the action of the novel?

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