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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. For what organization did Carlton used to work?

2. Which of the following is an aspect that makes Polly Bailey particularly attractive?

3. What is Nick Naylor's title at the Academy of Tobacco Studies?

4. What news did Naylor accidentally announce on air as a television announcer?

5. In what state did the shooting that Bobby Jay Bliss is trying to spin in Chapter 2 take place?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the Academy of Tobacco Studies?

2. How have Naylor's fortunes changed when he returns to the Academy at the beginning of Chapter 7?

3. What types of messages does Nick have waiting for him at the Academy in Chapter 7?

4. How does Nick fare in the Oprah show?

5. Describe the transfixed moment Naylor experiences at the end of Chapter 3.

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

7. What issue does Nick have with with Sven Gland's ad campaign in Chapter 7?

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

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

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

Nick Naylor is portrayed in the novel as a man who is consistently marginalized by society not because of race or beliefs, but because he has allied himself with a deeply unpopular entity. Write an essay about this marginalization in three parts:

Part 1) How does the Prologue of the novel express the omnipresent antipathy Nick Naylor faces in life? What does society at large dislike about what he does? How has Nick adapted to this antipathy? What defenses has he developed?

Part 2) Discuss the relationship that exists among the members of the MOD Squad in the novel. What do the three of them discuss when they meet for lunch? What do they understand about each other's life that most of society cannot?

Part 3) Describe the public attitude that surround's Nick's work, and how this attitude lends credence to the abduction and attempted murder. Are death threats a regular part of Nick Naylor's life? What precautions does the Academy take regarding these omnipresent fears?

Essay Topic 3

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

(see the answer keys)

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