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 country is David Keller going to be air-dropped into in Chapter 5?

2. Why is Kathryn Maitland living on the island of Kouros?

3. How do Tap, Kathryn and James travel to the dig in Chapter 2?

4. In Chapter 7, what does James accuse Owen of doing?

5. What one aspect of Owen's experience are the men of his story interested in?

Short Essay Questions

1. What story does Owen tell about a cave in Chapter 2?

2. What indication exists in Chapter 1 that relations are strained between James and Kathryn?

3. What is James and Kathryn's relationship with Volterra?

4. How has Kathryn Axton changes since separating from James?

5. What conversation do Eliades and James have at dinner in Chapter 3?

6. Describe the awkward lunch at the beginning of Chapter 7.

7. Why is Volterra in Jordan in Chapter 6?

8. Why are the Axtons separated?

9. According to Owen in Chapter 5, Why does the world hate America?

10. What theory about the language cult does James present to Owen in Chapter 7?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In DeLillo's novel, objects and words take on symbolic value. Some of this becomes inchoate as a result of age and divine intent. Some of it is created in the mind of the observer. Write an essay discussing the significance of certain objects in the book. What individual is engrossed with this object, and what reasons does he or she give? What effect does this object have on characters? What divine significance does this object have in relation to other elements of the novel?

Part 1) The Acropolis

Part 2) The Cuneiform the archeologist hires a boy to read on a high precipice.

Part 3) The Ta Onomata boulder

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay about the character of Frank Volterra. What is his connection to the Axtons, and how does he find himself in the search of the language cult? Discuss how DeLillo paints Volterra with a different brush that the other characters. Is he, in essence, a caricature of the temperamental auteur director? How does Del Nearing's attachment to Volterra humanize him to a certain point?

Essay Topic 3

Don DeLillo's novel deals with the notion of marriage in the latter half of the twentieth century by observing several married people dealing with issues of modern marriage. Write an essay about three such individuals. How does each individual feel about the marriage? How do they deal with the temptations involved in living abroad? How do these decisions affect the marriage? Discuss the state of the marriage at the end of the novel:

Part 1) James Axton

Part 2) Ann Maitland

Part 3) Janet Ruffing

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,047 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample