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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. Why are Temps and Tommy surprised during the row in Her Man?

2. Which two characters hit on the girls in this chapter?

3. In It Goes Without Saying, who thinks the group should leave the flat?

4. What drug does the group do after Begbie leaves?

5. With whom does Sick Boy have sex in The Skag Boys?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Sick Boy dictate activities in The Skag Boys?

2. What does Renton realize about Begbie in The Glass?

3. What is the cause of the brawl in Her Man?

4. Describe the incident in The Glass.

5. How do Spud and Renton commiserate at the club?

6. How does Renton almost lose his opium suppositories in The First Day of the Edinburgh Festival?

7. How does Renton prepare to come off of junk in The First Day of the Edinburgh Festival?

8. Why does Stevie have a wonderful New Years despite getting punched?

9. How does Renton meet Dianne?

10. What do all of the Junk Dilemmas have in common?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The lingering fear of the heroin culture of Trainspotting is HIV/AIDS. Write an essay discussing the way AIDS affects the lives of three characters in the novel. How does each character contract the syndrome? Does he maintain his health? Is he alive at the end of the novel? Discuss the methods this character uses to cope with AIDS.

Part 1) Davie

Part 2) Tommy

Part 3) Matty

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay about the character of Tommy. To what extent is he the most sadly innocent of the central figures in Trainspotting? What are his drugs of choice at the beginning of the novel? What does he want from life, and how does this lead him to heroin? Discuss the extent to which Tommy' story is the most cautionary of those regarding the consequences of drug use.

Essay Topic 3

Undoubtedly, the two most unappealing characters of Trainspotting are Begbie and Sick Boy> Write an essay about these characters. Why are they so despicable? What goal do they have and what tactics do they use to try to achieve them? How do these two characters represent dual sides of sin, complementing each other in their ill deals and transgressions?

(see the answer keys)

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