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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 do both Senator Plum and Nick imply about the nico-terrorists in Chapter 22?

2. In Chapter 20, what does Senator Finisterre want to put on cigarette packs?

3. Whom does Nick blame on the the investigation when Heather calls him in Chapter 23?

4. When they first meet in person in Chapter 17, why does Jeff Megall say he wants to do business with the Academy?

5. How does Nick characterize the money to Lorne Lutch in Chapter 18?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Describe Nick's arrest in Chapter 24?

3. How does Nick convince Lorne Lutch to take the bribe in Chapter 18?

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

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

6. What does Heather imply to Nick in Chapter 21?

7. What problem is the Academy having in Asia?

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

9. What vision does Nick have at the beginning of Chapter 15?

10. Describe the argument the MOD Squad has in Chapter 13.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

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 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.

(see the answer keys)

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