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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. Whom does Peter Stillman fear is going to murder him?

2. The second time Quinn awakens in the small room at the back of the apartment, what does he find waiting for him?

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

4. What doubts does Quinn have about the letters from the maps?

5. What does Stillman do with the object that he examines during his walks in Chapter 8 of the novel?

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. What is the danger of Quinn's becoming too bored while following Stillman? Who does he pretend to be in order to combat his boredom?

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

4. In the waiting room, what is the girl's opinion of the William Wilson novel that Quinn wrote? What is Quinn's reaction to her opinion?

5. According to Peter, what was his father's motivation for locking him up in the dark for so many years? Was he successful?

6. What job does Virginia Stillman hire Auster to do? How does she expect him to start?

7. While Quinn is living in the alleyway in Chapter 12, what is his sleep schedule like? How is he able to measure the amount of time he has been sleeping?

8. What interests Auster about the authorship of Don Quixote? According to Auster, what was the experiment that Don Quixote was conducting?

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

10. What is revealed about Quinn's family in Chapter 1 of City of Glass? Where is his family now?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Doubles are an important element in City of Glass, Ghosts, and The Locked Room. Give an example of the use of doubles in each of these stories. What is the function of the double? What does the use of the double communicate about reality and certainty?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the symbol of the Tower of Babel in City of Glass. Why is this symbol so important to Stillman? What is his project and how does it relate to the Tower of Babel?

Essay Topic 3

The New York Trilogy is in part a work of meta-fiction. How so? What does having a character named Paul Auster signify? What does the relationship between Paul Auster and the narrator of City of Glass imply about Auster's attitude towards writing?

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