View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is Brooklyn's last name?

2. Where is Manny when the novel begins?

3. Where is Sao Paulo walking in the Interruption?

4. Who does Bel recognize Brooklyn is?

5. Who does the woman in the Park think Bel is?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Sao Paulo's attitude seem to be towards his job?

2. What happens when Manny first encounters his roommate, Bel?

3. What can Manny tell about himself from looking in the Penn Station bathroom mirror?

4. What is Aislyn Houlihan doing at the Staten Island Ferry?

5. Though Aislyn thinks of her as a crazy person, why does she continue to stay with the Woman in White until she gets on the bus?

6. Who arrives to save Manny and Bel in Inwood Hill Park, and how does she do it?

7. Describe Aislyn’s father.

8. Who does the Woman in White confuse Bel for, and what do readers learn from her confusion?

9. What happens when Manny first arrives at Penn Station?

10. In Inwood Hill Park, how does Manny manage to defend himself and Bel from the white wriggling ooze?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In an essay, explore how the characters respond to their competing responsibilities to the city and to others in their lives.

Essay Topic 2

What role does art play in the novel? What point does the author seem to be making by including this motif?

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay in which you analyze Staten Aislyn’s role in the novel. In what ways does the author criticize her behaviors? In what ways does the author sympathize with her?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 734 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample