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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 reason does James offer in Chapter 10 for Greece's continued buffeting by stronger powers historically?

2. In Chapter 11, what Indian town is Owen living in?

3. What city is James in at the end of Chapter 9?

4. What does James think of in Chapter 11 as he deals with the passed out Hardeman?

5. What is James doing when he hears gunshots in Chapter 13?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. How does James learn the truth behind the CIA in Chapter 13?

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

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

6. How does James find a new sense of comfortable stasis at the end of the novel?

7. What transpires during James' evening with Del Nearing in Chapter 10?

8. What point about the murders does Andahl make in Chapter 9?

9. How is Chapter 14 connected thematically to the rest of the novel?

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 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 2

Write an essay about the ensemble that is James Axton's expatriate social scene. What collective philosophy do these people share, and for whence does this philosophy derive? In this essay, discuss the dynamic that exists within the group. Who are the most dominant figures in the group dynamic, and who feels like an outsider? Which couples are strong and which are clearly foundering? How is this made apparent?

Essay Topic 3

The world of The Names is one in which truth and facts are subjective. One can never be certain what is real and what is imagined. As such, there are a plethora of ambiguous characters in the novel. Write an essay about three such characters, discussing what they appear to be and what they are. How is the narrative affected by each of these characters? What deceptions do they perpetrate, and to what end? Is each characters' objectives identified by the end of the novel?

Part 1) Eliades

Part 2) Rowser

Part 3) Andahl

(see the answer keys)

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