View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. How do higher temperatures affect the character in Chapter 13?

2. What does RECs stand for?

3. In Chapter 13, what does the author suggest causes the sweat attacks?

4. Why does the author suggest researching government documents in Chapter 9?

5. In Chapter 3, how many men are in the car?

Short Essay Questions

1. What point does the author make about the "information society" in Chapter 9?

2. How does Stecyk change from Chapter 12 to Chapter 14?

3. In Chapter 10, how does the author explain the existence of the bureaucratic systems he describes?

4. Why do people dislike the boy in Chapter 5?

5. In Chapter 5, what has happened to the boy's mother?

6. What makes Claude happy in Chapter 2?

7. In Chapter 9, what does the author say about the first few pages of any book?

8. In the beginning of this novel, how does Claude feel about his job?

9. What is Stecyk's job in Chapter 14?

10. In Chapter 13, what problem does the main character suffer from?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Examine the use of dialogue vs the use of description. Look at how each is used in the novel and what makes these uses effective or ineffective.

Essay Topic 2

Analyze the layering of people named David Foster Wallace in this novel. Explore the relationship between the three Davids in the novel: the author, the narrator and the character. What makes these people different? What makes them the same?

Essay Topic 3

Research the IRS to compare the IRS details in the novel to the truth. Why might the author have maintained some facts and disregarded others?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 704 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample