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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 is the name of the Park where Stillman tends to spend several hours each day?
(a) Riverside Park.
(b) Hudson Park.
(c) Central Park.
(d) McIntire Park.

2. How does Quinn find out that Stillman has committed suicide?
(a) Virginia Stillman tells him over the telephone.
(b) He sees a news story about it on television.
(c) He reads it in a newspaper.
(d) Paul Auster tells him over the telephone.

3. After Quinn figures out the message, how many days does he estimate are left before Stillman makes a move to harm Peter?
(a) Two days.
(b) One day.
(c) Seven days.
(d) Four days.

4. Where does Quinn go to read Stillman's book?
(a) The Stillman's apartment.
(b) The bookstore.
(c) Central Park.
(d) The Columbia Library.

5. In Chapter 7, where does Quinn go to find Stillman?
(a) The Columbia Library.
(b) Grand Central Station.
(c) Central Park.
(d) Shea Stadium.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who is the author of The New Babel?

2. Which text does Stillman use as the basis of his argument about the fall of man in his book?

3. After Quinn runs out of money and leaves the alleyway, he sees his reflection in a mirror. His own image reminds him of whom?

4. What does Peter Stillman have in common with Quinn's son?

5. How much money does Quinn withdraw from the automatic teller at the end of Chapter 11?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Stillman's theory about having children? What is the correlation between having children and knowledge?

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

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

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

5. After losing track of Stillman, who does Quinn seek out for advice on the Stillman case? Why does he think this person will be able to help him?

6. Why did Stillman invent the persona of Henry Dark? What significance does this name have?

7. 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?

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. Describe the relationship between Quinn and the counterman at the luncheonette. What interest unites them?

10. In Chapter 11, what does Quinn write about in the red notebook? According to his observations, what is the social hierarchy of the vagabond population like?

(see the answer keys)

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