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. Where does Paul wash himself?

2. What kind of store has the group of people broken into?

3. What has Lotterman found out about?

4. Whose name does Sala sign on the invoice?

5. Where do Paul, Yeamon and Chenault sleep?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Chapter 13 say about Paul's ambition?

2. How does the policeman react to Chenault's disappearance?

3. What does Paul think about his stay on the island?

4. Describe Paul's time with Chenault and Yeamon in Chapter 13.

5. What do Yeamon, Paul and Chenault do the next morning?

6. Why can Lotterman not pay his workers until Monday?

7. What upsets Paul at the beginning of Chapter 10?

8. How do the locals treat Yeamon and Paul when Chenault leaves the house?

9. How does Sanderson help Paul and his friends in Chapter 8?

10. What do Paul and Yeamon talk about in Chapter 10?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Lotterman thinks he will lose respect in the community because he is an ex-communist and the locals do not trust communists. What kind of political system did Pueto Rico have in the Sixties? What was Puerto Rico's relationship with communism?

Essay Topic 2

Though the novel was written in the 1960s, it was not published until 1998. Why do you think Hunter S. Thompson found it so difficult to find a publisher for the novel in the Sixties? What changes do you think he would have to make to the book to get it published in the Sixties? Why do you think the book was more publishable in the late Nineties?

Essay Topic 3

Look at the structure of the novel.

1) How does Thompson use character and dialogue to drive the narrative?

2) Discuss elements of the narrative structure: exposition, conflict, complication, climax, resolution and conclusion. Do all the elements make for a logical and linear story? How does the story's structure express the novel's themes?

3) Aside from the main character, examine the way Thompson uses the other characters in the story. When does he introduce and take them away from the story? What effect does it have on the story?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 829 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample