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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 two talking points does Naylor cite in Chapter 1's call to a dubious periodical?

2. In Chapter 3, who asks Naylor for a meeting in two weeks?

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

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

5. In Chapter 2, what contention does the shooting survivor Bliss interviews make?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the Captain.

2. What is the Academy of Tobacco Studies?

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

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

5. Why is Nick's Today Show interview in Chapter 12 such a hit?

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

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

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

9. Why did Polly Baily join the Moderation Council?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Although the novel is told from a third-person point-of-view, much of the action is left in a sort of uncertain state. Write an essay about information withheld by the narrator in the novel. What is the purpose of withholding information? How does the omitting of this information place the reader very much in the same situation as Nick Naylor? Is all of this information connected to the main betrayal at the end? Sum up the essay by discussing the importance of the revelations in the final chapters.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay about the Academy of Tobacco Studies. Begin by analyzing its name, how it is itself an act of brazen deception. Who founds the Academy, and what historical event in the late 1950's precipitates its founding? At the beginning of the novel, what is the public perception of the Academy and Nick as a representative of it? In summation, discuss how the Academy serves as a symbol for all lobbyists in the novel.

Essay Topic 3

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.

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