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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. How many children did Neal Cassady's mother have before meeting his father?

2. In what year did Allen Ginsberg meet Neal Cassady?

3. Who is Jack Kerouac known as in On the Road?

4. When did Herbert Huncke meet William S. Burroughs?

5. Whom does Neal Cassady write about visiting in the hospital after a suicide attempt in his letters to Kerouac?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Kerouac's letter to Neal Cassady reveal about their friendship?

2. Where does Jack Kerouac refer to his own style of writing in "On the Road"? What metaphor does the author make?

3. What repetition is used in the "Peyote Poem"? Why?

4. What political allusions are used in "One Thousand Fearful Words for Fidel Castro"?

5. Describe John Clellon Holmes' writing style. How does it compare with Kerouac's?

6. What are some examples of religious allusion in "Howl"? What do they represent?

7. What religious allusion is used in the poem "Thou Shalt Not Kill"?

8. Describe Huncke's depictions of sexuality in his work.

9. In his letters to Kerouac, what is Cassady's description of how he lost his old girlfriend Joan in Denver?

10. What political references are made in the poem "America"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Compare the poems of Herbert Huncke in the text to the works of Allen Ginsberg. How do the writers differ in style? What themes and subjects are common?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the impact that the members of the Beat Generation had on those around them, as expressed in "Tales of Beatnik Glory." What were their families like?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the works of William S. Burroughs. What common subjects and themes does Burroughs revisit? When did Burroughs begin writing?

(see the answer keys)

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