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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 is the name of the first casino Paul and Sala enter?

2. Who does Paul talk to at the beginning of Chapter 4?

3. Who does Paul see in the airport line?

4. Where do Paul and Sala take the two girls?

5. Where does Paul go for dinner?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why do neither Paul nor Sala like to stay in Sala's apartment?

2. How does Lotterman react to Paul's questions about the paper folding?

3. Describe the internal problems at the newspaper.

4. What kind of people like to drink at Al's bar?

5. What problems do Paul, Sala and Yeaman run into at the bar?

6. In what way do all the characters working on the newspaper give Paul a bad first impression of his new job and life in San Juan ?

7. Why does Paul decide to go out drinking the night before he flies to Puerto Rico?

8. Describe the argument between Yeaman and Lotterman.

9. Why can Paul not work at the beginning of this chapter?

10. Describe the San Juan News.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Why do you think Paul Kemp decided to go to Puerto Rico? What can he do in Puerto Rico that he cannot do in America?

Essay Topic 2

Write a 500-word essay revolving around the following statement: Paul does not make a success of his time in Puerto Rico because he lacks both direction and ambition.

Essay Topic 3

The Rum Diary is written in the first person. Why do you think Thompson chose to write the story in the first person? How do you think the meaning of the story would have changed if it were written in the third person?

(see the answer keys)

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