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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 Bliss remember most clearly about Heather Holloway in Chapter 7?

2. In what House Committee did Polly Bailey begin her Washington, D.C. career?

3. Which John Wayne film does Naylor and his son watch at the end of Chapter 3?

4. What airport is Naylor in when BR calls him in Chapter 6?

5. According to Naylor in Chapter 4, what invention in movies popularized smoking in them?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the Academy of Tobacco Studies?

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

3. How does Oprah betray Naylor at the beginning of Chapter 5?

4. Why was Nick Naylor fired as a television reporter?

5. How does Nick's meeting with Heather Holloway end in Chapter 9?

6. How is Nick taken hostage in Chapter 11?

7. Describe Budd Rohrabacher.

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay about cigarettes as a symbol in the novel. How are cigarettes at once an enduring icon in American history and a sort of scapegoat for American excess? What do cigarettes symbolize in Buckley's novel? How does the attitudes and biases surrounding them permeate every aspect of Nick Naylor's life? How do they simultaneously endanger him and save his life in the novel? In summation, discuss whether cigarettes are presented in a largely positive or negative light.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay about the character of Lorne Lutch. Begin the essay by discussing what famous real-life icon he is based on. Why does his anti-smoking crusade seem infinitely more sincere than that of Senator Finisterre and Gordan Craighead? Discuss the moment when Nick bribes him. How does Nick manage to convince Lorne to sacrifice his ideals? What is the significance of Nick's decision to lie about Lorne's decision at the end of the novel?

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