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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. Which area is responsible for the peninsula's defenses against would-be invaders and marauders?

2. What is Astur really good at?

3. What does Maddy do to Todbaum that surprises him in Chapter 19?

4. Why does Maddy get angry with Journeyman a few months after The Arrest?

5. What eventually happens with Todbaum's career?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Todbaum say about Tinderwick and its environs in the section titled Island and Lighthouse that unsettles Journeyman?

2. What happens between Todbaum and Maddy when Maddy visits Journeyman in Los Angeles?

3. Why does Maddy get so angry with Journeyman several months after The Arrest, as described in the section "Loss"?

4. How did Journeyman come to be a part of the community in Tinderwick?

5. What was the result of The Arrest?

6. What is Journeyman's job in Tinderwick and how does he feel about the job?

7. What part of the Blue Streak is particularly popular with the townspeople of Tinderwick, including, grudgingly, Journeyman?

8. In what sense do Journeyman's rounds of food delivery expand in Part II?

9. What does the warning sign in the section Frost Heaves say, and what association does the narrator make with the sign?

10. What kind of relationship did Journeyman and Todbaum have during the period when they lived together at the Starlet apartments?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does the combination of Todbaum's appearance in Tinderwick, and the resulting aggression from the Cordon, alter both Journeyman's perceptions of himself and his relationship with his sister Maddy? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 2

What ideas or themes do you think Lethem is trying to communicate to the reader through Todbaum's and Journeyman's discussion about dystopian or post-apocalyptic stories on pages 175 - 77? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 3

When do the residents of Tinderwick seem to turn away - many of them in disgust - from Todbaum and from the Blue Streak, and why do you think they behave this way? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

(see the answer keys)

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