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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. On what occasion does the sexual relationship between the narrator and Sophie Fanshawe begin?
(a) On the narrator's birthday.
(b) On Sophie Fanshawe's birthday.
(c) On the day that Fanshawe's work is accepted by the publisher.
(d) On the day that they meet to discuss Fanshawe's work for the first time.

2. What year is it when Blue begins work on the case?
(a) 1987.
(b) 1927.
(c) 1947.
(d) 1997.

3. What does Blue notice about White?
(a) He has a tattoo.
(b) He is balding.
(c) He is wearing a disguise.
(d) He has an accent.

4. What does the narrator decide from the beginning that he will omit from his book?
(a) Fanshawe's parents.
(b) Fanshawe's childhood.
(c) Fanshawe's marriage.
(d) Fanshawe's letter to the narrator.

5. How many suitcases does Fanshawe's work fill?
(a) Two.
(b) One.
(c) Seven.
(d) Three.

Short Answer Questions

1. What are the two nicknames by which Fanshawe was known on the ship?

2. What does the narrator do after receiving Fanshawe's letter?

3. From where was Fanshawe's letter postmarked?

4. What does Fanshawe's mother offer the narrator to help him with his project?

5. What is the amount of the monetary advance White gives Blue?

Short Essay Questions

1. About what aspect of Fanshawe's writing do Sophie and Fanshawe disagree? What is the compromise that Fanshawe offers her a few months before his disappearance?

2. What does the manuscript contain that Blue takes from Black's apartment after beating him up? How does the story end?

3. During their second conversation, what is Black's response when Blue asks him if the man he watches knows he is being watched? How does Black justify his answer?

4. When Black speaks to Blue about Walt Whitman, what two internal organs does he compare? What do these viscera have to do with the profession of writing?

5. What initiates the argument between Sophie and the narrator at the end of Chapter 7? What is the status of their relationship when the narrator leaves for Paris?

6. What is unusual about the letter that the narrator supposedly receives from Fanshawe? How does this quirk help to convince the narrator of the letter's veracity?

7. What does Jane Fanshawe do after lunch? What does the narrator think motivates this act?

8. What does Blue want to do when he thinks about the future Mrs. Blue? How does this make him realize that he is changing?

9. Why does the narrator struggle with showing Fanshawe's letter to Sophie? What does he do instead?

10. What is the person who comes to collect Blue's report at the Brooklyn Post Office wearing? What does Blue do when he sees this person?

(see the answer keys)

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