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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 illness does Mr. Spencer have?

2. Who does Holden call from his hotel room?

3. What does Holden think Mr. Spencer yelled at him as he shut the door?

4. What does Marty call Buddy's clarinet?

5. Where does Holden decide to go at the end of the chapter?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Holden think of his siblings?

2. What five people does Holden think of calling when he arrives at Penn Station?

3. Why does Holden like writing about Allie's baseball mitt?

4. How is Allie's baseball mitt described?

5. Compare and contrast Ackley and Stradlater, according to Holden's descriptions.

6. Why does Mrs. Morrow think her son is not a good mixer with other boys?

7. Why does Holden decide not to have sex with Sunny? What does he tell her?

8. What two reasons does Holden give for not talking about his early childhood?

9. Why does Ackley get on Holden's nerves?

10. Why does Ackley grunt a response when Stradlater says hello to him?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Explain Holden's view of women, particularly as they relate to intimate relationships and sex. How does Holden react when faced with the prospect of sex? How does Holden express genuine affection for women? What women in the novel does he care about? How can you tell?

Essay Topic 2

Identify the climax of the novel. How do you know this is the climax? Could any other scenes be considered the climax? If so, which ones, and why? How does the beginning of the novel lead up to the climax? How is the novel resolved after the climax?

Essay Topic 3

Define foreshadowing. Give at least two examples of foreshadowing in The Catcher in the Rye. Is the foreshadowing used in the novel effective? Why or why not?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 546 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample