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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who does the narrator say should hope for a way to retire and not have to think about life?
(a) Poor men.
(b) Intelligent men.
(c) Upper class men.
(d) All men.

2. To what natural occurrence does the narrator liken his own feelings of tedium?
(a) Snow.
(b) Fog.
(c) Rain.
(d) Rainbow.

3. What smell brings back memories of the narrator's childhood?
(a) Cotton Candy.
(b) Candy apples.
(c) Smoked ham.
(d) Cigarette smoke.

4. Who does the narrator believe is the only one who knows his heart?
(a) Himself.
(b) His father.
(c) God.
(d) His mother.

5. What remained constant about the scales the girl played on her instrument when she lived above the narrator?
(a) She always got them wrong.
(b) She played at the same time every day.
(c) The monotonous rhythm.
(d) The pitch.

6. Why will all writing be imperfect, according to the narrator?
(a) Because it is not oral poetry.
(b) Because all writers are imperfect.
(c) Because it is all one-sided.
(d) Because he is a pessimist.

7. Which play does the narrator say is terribly flawed?
(a) Hamlet.
(b) MacBeth.
(c) King Lear.
(d) A Mid-Summer Night's Dream.

8. What does the narrator say allows poison to enter the human heart?
(a) Money.
(b) Tedium.
(c) Mirrors.
(d) Religion.

9. Why does the narrator contend that a person cannot truly love another person?
(a) A person never really knows another person.
(b) It is impossible to fear a mere human.
(c) A person cannot own another person.
(d) It is impossible to respect humanity.

10. How old is the author of The Book of Disquiet when he dies?
(a) 47.
(b) 82.
(c) 35.
(d) 99.

11. According to the narrator, what kind of people own the world?
(a) Common.
(b) Unfeeling.
(c) Intelligent.
(d) Rich.

12. What does the narrator say causes people to not have a firm reason for their own existence?
(a) Illiteracy.
(b) Lack of belief in God or something larger.
(c) They don't realize that they need a reason.
(d) They are too common to understand.

13. What term does the narrator use to define a period of time in which he is unable to write as much as he is accustomed to writing?
(a) Writer's block.
(b) Tedium.
(c) Stagnation.
(d) Writer's remorse.

14. What is a semiheteronym?
(a) The opposite of a semiantonym.
(b) A persona that isn't too far away from the writer's personality.
(c) A term that refers to the writer who questions his/her own sexuality.
(d) The opposit of a pseudonym.

15. Who enjoys being sick?
(a) The narrator's mother.
(b) The office boy.
(c) Soares.
(d) Valquez.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why does the narrator suggest that intelligent, sensitive people should remain as uneducated as possible?

2. What does the author advise people to do if they feel they must disclose information about themselves to others?

3. What is the only thing that a man ever completely owns, according to the narrator?

4. How does the narrator multi-task?

5. When does the narrator begin to think of writing as unappealing?

(see the answer keys)

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