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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. In the non-italicized section of Chapter 3, where does Bobby move to after moving out of his apartment?

2. In the non-italicized section of Chapter 1, what bar does Bobby go to on Philip St.?

3. In the italicized section of Chapter 4, what does the girl write in her diary about the purpose of families?

4. In the non-italicized section of Chapter 1, what does Bobby realize is missing from the plane?

5. In the non-italicized section of Chapter 3, what do the guys in suits tell Bobby about the plane that Bobby then tells Oiler about?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are Bobby and Oiler doing off the coast of Mississippi as the non-italicized section of Chapter 1 opens?

2. After talking to Oiler about Venezuela, what does Bobby notice about his apartment?

3. Of the Kid's cohorts, who is the only one that the girl cares about? Why does the kid not summon her for the girl?

4. Does Bobby find anything on his search of the cluster of islands?

5. What does Bobby do with what he finds in his grandmother's basement?

6. How does the Kid talk? What is the reader's impression of the Kid from the ways he talks and the language that he uses.

7. What is peculiar about this downed plane?

8. At the beginning of Chapter 4, what appears in the night at the girl's window that makes her whisper Bobby's name?

9. In the beginning of Chapter 2, What is Bobby thinking about as he sits in the cathedral?

10. What happens to Bobby that ends his time racing cars?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What does this book say about beauty? What does beauty represent in this book? How is beauty connected to reality? How is beauty connected to the deep heart of number which may only exist as unreality or subconscious? How are math and physics related to beauty? Can beauty be detrimental to those who are taken in by it? How so?

Essay Topic 2

Why does the author include a lengthy conversation about who killed John F. Kennedy? What is your experience of reading this section? How is this lengthy conversation a different experience than the one about math and physics? What are you able to grasp from a careful reading of this conversation? How does this conversation connect to the idea of reality compared to the perception of reality? Or the idea that perception shapes reality?

Essay Topic 3

There are guys in suits who question Bobby, and his bank account is frozen by the IRS. How do these elements serve the story? How do they serve the author's intentions for the story? How do they serve to suggest a life that is out of Bobby's control? How do they serve to show ideas of struggle and surrender? How do these ideas relate to the reader's world?

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