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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 Nick imagine the two FBI agents interviewing him in Chapter 12 doing?

2. What controversial move has Nick Naylor long been making regarding tobacco's public image?

3. What simple request does Nick Naylor make in Chapter 7 that prompts Gazelle to make a smart comment?

4. With what fictional newspaper does Heather Holloway have an interview coming up in Chapter 12?

5. What does Bliss remember most clearly about Heather Holloway in Chapter 7?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the Academy respond to the death threat in Chapter 9?

2. In Chapter 3, how does BR try to undermine Naylor?

3. What is the purpose of Nick Naylor's meeting with Reverend Griggs in Chapter 10?

4. What is the MOD Squad?

5. Describe the history of cigarettes as related by Nick Naylor in Chapter 4.

6. Describe Budd Rohrabacher.

7. How does Nick Naylor defend his position at Clean Lungs 2000?

8. How do the nico-terrorists in Chapter 11 attempt to kill Nick?

9. What fire is Bobby Jay Bliss putting out in Chapter 2?

10. Why did Polly Baily join the Moderation Council?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Christopher Buckley uses a convention in the novel that was popular both with Shakespeare and Dickens where he pointedly gives his character's names that obviously reflect their nature. Write an essay in which you choose three characters for whom this is the case. What essential part of each character does his or her name reflect? Does the name act as a forewarning about the character to the reader or does the name's meaning only become clear after the fact?

Essay Topic 2

Buckley uses setting in Thank You for Smoking to show the different fiefdoms created by powerful industries in America. Write an essay about the three most prevalent locations in the novel. What industry does the reader associate with each setting? How does this industry permeate every aspect of this setting? What characters are most dominant in each city, and how do they affect their surroundings in a palpable way?

Part 1) Washington, DC

Part 2) Los Angeles

Part 3) Winston-Salem

Essay Topic 3

Throughout most of the novel, the nico-terrorists seem like a credible and immediate danger to Nick Naylor. They turn out, in the end, to be a red herring designed to catalyze Nick's public discrediting. Write an essay about this process int he novel. How are the nico-terrorists introduced? Why are they unsuccessful in killing Nick? How does the reader become aware that their organization is a farce? Sum up the essay by explaining who the terrorists, are.

(see the answer keys)

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