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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 does Holden try to pick up as he leaves the Wicker Bar?

2. Where does Holden think his father will send him?

3. What hotel is the Wicker Bar in?

4. What nationality are Tina and Janine?

5. What does Holden accidentally do to two nuns?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does it make Holden sad when Phoebe asks why he got kicked out of Pencey?

2. Why did it bother Holden that the boys in his Oral Expression class yelled “Digression!” during speeches?

3. Why does Holden end the novel where he does?

4. Why does Holden scold Phoebe for putting ink on Curtis Weintraub's windbreaker?

5. Why does Holden wish he could change his memory of Allie and the BB guns?

6. Why does Holden like the kettledrum player in the orchestra?

7. Why does Holden think his sister not coming to his funeral would be the only good thing about him dying of pneumonia?

8. How has Carl changed when Holden meets him at the Wicker Bar?

9. Why does Holden say he would volunteer to sit on an atomic bomb if there is another war?

10. Why is Holden confused when Sally tells him to stop yelling?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Identify the main conflict of the novel. What type of conflict is this? How does the author express the main conflict throughout the novel? Is this effective? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

Examine Holden's relationship with Phoebe. Why does he have such a close relationship with his sister? How are the two alike? How are they different? What does this relationship reveal about Holden's character? How does it affect his actions in the novel?

Essay Topic 3

Explain the importance of perception in literature. How does the author use perception to affect the reader's interpretation of events in the novel? Give one example from The Catcher in the Rye that shows the importance of perception. Is this an effective use of perception? Why or why not?

(see the answer keys)

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