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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. At the end of Chapter 1, how does James think Kathryn's attitude toward him is changing?
2. What offer does James make to Charles in Chapter 4?
3. In Chapter 5, what has Volterra recently done that has made headlines?
4. What specific problem is Volterra having with his excursions in Chapter 6?
5. At the beginning of Chapter 5, James says that people love to give Kathryn what?
Short Essay Questions
1. What explanation of the language cult's motives does Vosdanik offer in Chapter 6?
2. Describe the awkward lunch at the beginning of Chapter 7.
3. In Chapter 4, what plan does Kathryn have for after her dig ends?
4. How is Owen's connection to the cave people addressed in Chapter 4?
5. Why is Volterra in Jordan in Chapter 6?
6. What indication exists in Chapter 1 that relations are strained between James and Kathryn?
7. Describe the murder in Kouros.
8. What do Owen and James talk about at the end of Chapter 2?
9. What does James Axton do in Europe?
10. Describe the tiff that Charles Maitland and James have at the end of Chapter 7.
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Violence occurs intermittently throughout The Names, and when it falls, the violence comes quickly and partially witnessed. It is ambiguous in its intent and raises all sorts of questions. Write an essay about moments of violence in the novel:
Part 1) Discuss the first murder. Who makes not of it first in the novel? Is it witnessed, first-hand by any character? How does Owen connect the violence to the people he met in the cave? What inquiries lead to the connection of the first murder to the ones that came before and after it?
Part 2) How does Owen experience his only murder with the death cult? Is he actually present when the man is bludgeoned to death? Why or why not? In assessing the effect of this violence on him as a character, discuss what leads up to the murder and what follows it.
Part 3) How is David Keller shot in the novel? Who shoots him, and why? How does James Axton, and by proxy the reader, experience this act of violence in the novel? Discuss what concerns and doubts it creates in the protagonist's mind. How is the act explained?
Essay Topic 2
Write an essay about the Northeast Group, what it ostensibly does as a company, how it is represented in the novel, and what it, in reality, is a functionary of. What is James Axton's role within the Northeast Group? What other character is his contact, and how does this character represent a strange intensity unusual for a private company? What does the Group do in the novel, and how are its true functions slyly revealed tot he reader and James Axton alike? What is the fallout?
Essay Topic 3
In the latter half of The Names, James Axton develops several female entanglements that serve as temporary place-fillers for his lost family. Write an essay about these three: Janet Ruffing, Del Nearing, and Ann Maitland. How does Ruffing fulfill his sexual needs as a man? How does Nearing fulfill his paternal needs after the essential loss of Tap? Discuss, lastly, how Ann Maitland provides the most complete relationship for him. What are the defining attributes of this relationship? How does their final moment in the novel resonate as particularly significant?
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This section contains 1,190 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) |
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