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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. Howie thinks ______ signals to the world that he has a rich, busy life.

2. What car company does Howie consider to do a good job with knobs?

3. What does Howie decline from the clerk at Papa Gino's?

4. When Howie moves into an apartment he discovers the therapeutic properties of what?

5. Howie believes that losing brain cells makes a person _______.

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the treat that Howie gives himself after making a resolution to not get carried away by nostalgia?

2. How does Howie celebrate what he considers to be the realization that he is an adult?

3. What were the "systems of local transport" that Howie liked as a child?

4. What observations does Howie make about straws while he was at Papa Gino's?

5. What thoughts about bread does Howie have while riding the subway?

6. What are Howie's observations about shoes and feet at work?

7. What is Howie's feeling about ice cube trays?

8. What does breaking his shoelace remind Howie of?

9. What does Howie mean by "the rule of nostalgia"?

10. Why has Howie mostly given up drinking milk?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the time sequence of the novel and how it adds or detracts from the reader's ability to connect with the narrative.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the aesthetic distance created in the novel and the reader's experience of spending the entire time inside Howie's thoughts.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the metaphorical significance of the escalator and how it is used as a vehicle of thought throughout the novel.

(see the answer keys)

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