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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. In Chapter 25, who does Nick pretend to be to get into Captain's hospital room?

2. What news does Jeannette give Nick at dinner in Chapter 15?

3. In what market does BR push Nick to do more interviews in Chapter 13?

4. In Chapter 21, Nick and Jeff Megall decide the scenes in the science fiction film with smoking will only play where?

5. In Chapter 25, what crime does the Captain fear BR may be regularly committing?

Short Essay Questions

1. What issues in Chapter 19 make Nick uneasy about agrees to a deal with Jeff Megall?

2. What plan is Senator Finisterre trying to pass through Congress in Chapter 19?

3. What request does the Captain make of Nick in Chapter 13?

4. What do Allman and Monmaney find that prompts them to arrest Nick in this section?

5. What concerns has the Captain long had about BR that he reveals in Chapter 25?

6. How does Nick convince Lady Bent to speak against trade regulations in Chapter 16?

7. How has Sven improved the anti-underage-smoking campaign in Chapter 13?

8. Describe the hotel that Nick goes to in Chapter 17.

9. Who is Jack Bein?

10. What is odd about Monmaney and Allman's question is Chapter 14?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The world of tobacco in Buckley's novel is divided into two groups: the old-school manufacturers and the slick image men who try to sell the industry to the country. Write a essay about this conflict, focusing on each side individually:

Part 1) The old style of tobacco men is represented most clearly by the character of the Captain. What does the old man value in business? Why does he take to Nick Naylor so fervently? How are his views considered antiquated by the new guard, and how does his death mark the passing of an era?

Part 2) The new style of image and branding is perhaps best represented by the slick, deceptive BR. What does he want to do to change the Academy, and how do these changes jive with the old style of men like the Captain? What kind of support does BR have at the Academy, and how is his power derived almost exclusively from lies and treachery?

Essay Topic 2

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 3

Write an essay about the characters of BR and Jeannette. What forewarning does the reader have that these characters are both deceptive and ambitious? Why does Nick fall prey to their lies even though he knows they are not to be trusted? Specifically, what strange actions does each character undertake over the course of the novel that seem unexplainable? How are they eventually explained by the final betrayal of the novel? What do they reveal about them?

(see the answer keys)

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