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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 is the topic of the story of the audience member who interrupts Nick Naylor at the conference in the Prologue?

2. What game does Nick play as he drives to St. Euthanasius in Chapter 10?

3. What type of medical condition has recently been linked to smoking in Chapter 1?

4. In Chapter 5, who is Naylor is seated onstage next?

5. In Chapter 7, what does Naylor say he regrets regarding Gazelle?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

4. How does Heather portray Nick in her article?

5. How is Nick's Larry King interview interrupted with some shocking news?

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

7. Describe the Captain.

8. What does the reader learn about Gazelle in Chapter 7?

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

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

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

Thank You for Smoking is in many respects a satire on the nanny-state that developed in America in the mid-1990's. Write an essay about how the efforts of the "gaspers" reflect the domestic policies of the Clinton years. How are characters like Senator Finisterre and Gordon Craighead portrayed in the novel? Are they protecting Americans, in Buckley's opinion, or curtailing their freedoms? What was happening in America at the time that this novel was published that is reflected in the narrative?

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.

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