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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 Italicized section of Chapter 3, who does the Kid say that girl starts quoting to her teacher?

2. In the non-italicized section of Chapter 1, what is Long John's nickname for Bobby?

3. In the italicized section of Chapter 2, in whose house is the girl living?

4. In the non-italicized section of Chapter 1, what started the fire in Bianca's apartment?

5. In the italicized section of Chapter 4, what does the girl say that photons are not?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Chapter 2, What does the Kid present to the girl?

2. What is Oiler going to do on his dive job in Venezuela?

3. 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.

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

5. What does Debussy say that she wants in regard to gender?

6. What is the job that Bobby and Red go on in Port Sulphur?

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

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

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

10. After talking to Oiler about Vietnam, what do the guys in suits want to know from Bobby about the downed plane?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

Describe the Thalidomide Kid. Write about him as if you are explaining him and his character to someone who has not read the book. What are the Kid's important aspects? What are the important things to know about the Kid in order to understand his essence as it relates to the book?

Essay Topic 3

Bobby has two more experiences of solitude. How are these experiences different that his experience on the jack-up rig? How do the language and cadence give the reader a feeling that the other two experiences of solitude have a different quality than the experience Bobby has aboard the jack-up rig?

(see the answer keys)

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