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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. What does the A in Tap stand for?

2. Who tells James Owen's address in Chapter 11?

3. What does Rowser fixate on as he talks with James in Chapter 11?

4. In Chapter 10, where does James hear that Eliades is moving?

5. Who is Hardeman?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does James Axton learn in Bombay early in Chapter 11?

2. In Chapter 12, why does Owen go to Lake Rajsamand?

3. What unsettling information does Ann Maitland tell James in Chapter 10?

4. How does DeLillo illustrate James' awkward relationship with his landlord in Chapter 10?

5. Describe the political argument that James and Eliades have in Chapter 10.

6. What admission does James make to Lindsay Keller in Chapter 13?

7. How has Rowser become more paranoid in Chapter 11?

8. How does James follow up on his Mani discovery later in Chapter 8?

9. Where is Volterra in his planning for the cult film at the end of Chapter 8?

10. What suspicions does James have about Eliades in Chapter 13?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay about the relationship between James and Tap Axton. What do father and son do together throughout the novel, and how does the impending divorce affect this activity? What habits does Tap have that alienate him from James? Discuss whether DeLillo paints a picture of a father and son relationship that seems strong in any way. What other character seems more like a father figure to Tap?

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay about Owen Brademas and his function thematically in the narrative. Based on first impressions from the opening chapters, what does Owen value above all else in life? What does he want to achieve? Discuss how these objectives drive Owen to seek out the cult, and how his skills make him the most effective of the searchers. Why does he become paralyzed by the prospect of meeting the cult? How does his experience with them leave him?

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay about the marriage and separation of James and Kathryn Axton. How did their marriage affect each others individual life and goals? What state is the marriage in when the novel begins, and how did it reach this point? Discuss how Kathryn and James' personalities and lifestyles change after the separation. What idiosyncrasies are revealed as a result? What finally breaks the marriage apart for good, and how does the veneer of cordiality disappear as a result?

(see the answer keys)

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