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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 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. Which historical figure was faced with the challenge of standing an egg on its end?

4. What does Virginia Stillman do after she walks Quinn to the door in Chapter 3?

5. Why does Quinn decide that fate is telling him that he cannot quit the Stillman case?

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

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

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

5. 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?

6. What is unusual about the relationship between Peter Stillman and his wife Virginia? What does Virginia do to make their relationship work?

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

8. Where does Stillman go after leaving Grand Central Station? Why is Quinn surprised by this?

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

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

Compare and contrast the time of narration and the time of action in Ghosts and The Locked Room. How is the narration different? Which of the narrators is further removed from the action? What effect does this have on the stories?

Essay Topic 2

The theme of incomprehensibility is present throughout The Locked Room. What makes the writer conclude that life does not make sense? What does this say about the writer's relationship to reality and the challenge of his work?

Essay Topic 3

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?

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