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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 Mr. Sneed do by the ocean?

2. What does the Too Sensitive narrator's girlfriend tell him about Benny Adimson?

3. What does Mr. Sneed believe there is no shame in?

4. In Goodbye Watson, where does the narrator go after he wakes up?

5. In Doing Time with Public Enemy No. 1, why is Bukowski deemed unfit for combat?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the narrator of Goodbye Watson think about literature?

2. What is Harry driven by in Reunion?

3. Describe the character of Signo in The Stupid Christs.

4. What is Bukowski's primal desire in Rape! Rape!, and how does he reveal it?

5. Describe the town in An Evil Town.

6. Describe Duke's relationship with Lala in A .45 to Pay the Rent.

7. In Cunt and Kant and a Happy Home, describe the highs and lows of Jack Hendley's horse races.

8. Describe the character of Frank Evans in An Evil Town.

9. How does the girlfriend insult her boyfriend in Too Sensitive?

10. What does the young boy represent in Love it or Leave it?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

"Animal Crackers in My Soup" has an abrupt and somewhat unusual conclusion. What happens in the conclusion? What does the baby represent? Why does the story end the way it does? Make sure you answer each question with evidence and support from the story.

Essay Topic 2

One recurring theme in Tales of Ordinary Men is balance between life and literature. Describe Bukowski's ideas on life and literature from at least two stories from the collection. Which is more important to him, and why? Make sure you answer each question with evidence and support from the stories.

Essay Topic 3

In "I Shot a Man in Reno," runs into several people that cause him to be very self-critical. Why is Bukowski so self-critical? How do his own ideas of himself contrast with the ideas others have of him? Make sure you answer each question with evidence and support from the story.

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This section contains 660 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample