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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. Who is the patient who the psychiatrist introduces to the narrator?

2. What is important about the protagonist of the story?

3. Why does the narrator study the language in #56?

4. What is the narrator's current obsession?

5. Who was abusive to Annie and her brother?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the narrator want from his life and when does he become aware of these needs?

2. What is the premise of "The Beautiful Room is Empty"?

3. How does the narrator meet Tex and Morris?

4. How does the narrator's subway ride further alienate him from what he thinks is normal life?

5. How does the longing for approval manifest in the narrator's life?

6. How does the narrator compare his life to the life of the Chinese woman he meets?

7. What does the narrator learn about Hunton from an older man with the same name?

8. Why is the narrator the embodiment of sacrificing oneself for the sake of social acceptance?

9. How did the struggle for acceptance and freedom for lesbians differ from that of gay men?

10. With whom does the narrator have his first gay sexual experience and how does he feel about it afterward?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Create a character study of Lou. What are his physical characteristics? What are his motivations? What are his fears? What are his dreams? What else can you say about Lou?

Essay Topic 2

Substance abuse seems to be an unnamed character in the book. How pervasive is the abuse? Why does it have such a prevalent place in the characters' lives? How does it affect the abusers? How does it affect those impacted by the abusers? Explain how an inanimate object or characteristic can be a character.

Essay Topic 3

Explain the significance of the novel's title--"The Beautiful Room is Empty". Why did White choose this title? Is there an understood message in the title? Is there another title you can suggest that might be more appropriate?

(see the answer keys)

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