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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. Where is Nick's father's shop?

2. What artist paints the painting in the boardroom of the bank Nick visits?

3. What is Wani's job?

4. Who is the composer of the "Sabre Dance"?

5. What is Jasper's profession?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is it about Nick that the Feddens trusted?

2. Why is the painting in the Charles home the kind of painting that Nick likes least?

3. Describe Howard and Simon's relationship.

4. What does Toby say has been Sophie's father's most famous remark?

5. What does Mrs. Charles pray for?

6. Why does Nick think Leo is preoccupied with money?

7. How is Gerald represented in the book about the election?

8. How does Badger get his nickname?

9. What does Nick think of Norman Kent's weeping during the piano performance?

10. Why does Nick want to go to Highgate Village?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Examine the role of public vs. private space in the text. Give examples and show how public and private spaces can also be scenes of irony (keyholder's garden and the Gents).

Essay Topic 2

Rachel refers to a politician's affair as "vulgar and unsafe." How do you see the homosexual encounters as portrayed in the text? Are they portrayed as vulgar or as beautiful? Why do you think Hollinghurst makes his scenes so explicit?

Essay Topic 3

The novel opens with a quote from Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. Why has the author selected this quote? What parallels can you draw between Nick and Alice? Has Nick outgrown the world of the Feddens? Why or why not?

(see the answer keys)

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