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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What do Auster and the narrator find in the Stillman's apartment?
(a) Nothing; it is completely empty.
(b) Daniel Quinn's corpse.
(c) Stillman's book.
(d) The red notebook.

2. According to the telephone conversation at the end of Chapter 1, why does the caller need Quinn to protect him?
(a) The caller is paranoid.
(b) The caller has committed a crime.
(c) The caller is a celebrity.
(d) The caller believes he is going to be murdered.

3. What does Quinn do to alleviate his boredom while following Stillman?
(a) He sings to himself.
(b) He draws pictures of horses in the red notebook.
(c) He records meticulous details about Stillman in the red notebook.
(d) He writes love letters to Virginia Stillman in the red notebook.

4. In their first conversation in Chapter 9, what does Stillman tell Quinn his project is?
(a) Drawing maps of the city.
(b) Collecting street trash.
(c) Building the Tower of Babel.
(d) Inventing a new language.

5. According to Stillman's notes in Chapter 5, which character does he suspect of not being trustworthy?
(a) The counterman at the luncheonette.
(b) Paul Auster.
(c) Peter Stillman.
(d) Virginia Stillman.

Short Answer Questions

1. What happens each time Auster tries to reach Virginia Stillman by telephone in Chapter 11?

2. After Quinn figures out the message, how many days does he estimate are left before Stillman makes a move to harm Peter?

3. What is Quinn's pseudonym?

4. Where does Quinn go to read Stillman's book?

5. What is the name of the persona that Stillman invents in his book in order to protect himself?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Quinn believe is the key to effective detective work? Does his theory prove to be correct? Why or why not?

2. In what year did Stillman lock up his son? Why is this significant?

3. At the end of Chapter 13, what does the narrator reveal about himself? How did he become involved in the story?

4. Why is Virginia Stillman scared when Quinn calls her at the end of Chapter 9? What makes her think that Stillman may have contacted Peter?

5. What is the financial and societal status of the Stillman family? Where do the Stillmans come from?

6. In the telephone calls in Chapter 1, with whom is Quinn confused? What is the nature of this person's work?

7. What is Stillman's project as he explains it to Quinn in Chapter 9? Why is this work necessary?

8. What is the message spelled out by the letters of the maps in Chapter 8? What does this message reveal to Quinn about Stillman?

9. What is the first thing that Quinn writes in the red notebook? Why is this significant?

10. What role does fate have in Quinn's involvement in the Stillman case? What does Quinn consider to be a sign of fate's decision?

(see the answer keys)

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