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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 Charles specifically - and mistakenly - congratulate James for in Chapter 13?

2. What does Andahl refused to divulge about the cult in Chapter 9?

3. Where in Greece does James meet with Ann and Lindsay Keller in Chapter 11?

4. What are Rowser's plans as he talks to James at the end of Chapter 11?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. What is different about Chapter 14 from the rest of the novel?

2. What traumatic experience happens to Orville Benton in Chapter 14?

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

4. How does Owen experience the murder in Chapter 12?

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

6. What information does Andahl give about the cult in Chapter 9?

7. How does Owen look in Chapter 12?

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

9. What unfortunate occurrence happens to David Keller in Chapter 13?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

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

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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