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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 about Dianne does Renton immediately dislike?

2. What does Renton promise Spud at the end of this chapter?

3. Why is Renton's sex drive higher than normal in this chapter?

4. How does the group in Grieving and Mourning in Port Sunshine accumulate its communal pot?

5. Who strikes the first blow in the brawl in Na Na and Other Nazis?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why are the mates made anxious by Begbie's plans for this chapter?

2. How does Renton meet Dianne?

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

4. What strange occurrence happens at the wake in Growing Up in Public?

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

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

7. Why do the mates decide to go to the Meadows?

8. Describe Renton and Spuds' tiff and reconciliation in this chapter.

9. How is Spud's life since coming off heroin?

10. Why is Tommy worried about his girlfriend in Scotland Takes Drugs in Psychic Defense?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Mark Renton is clearly the protagonist of Trainspotting, in that the reader most frequently shares his emotional life. Write an essay about three of his experiences and how the reader learns a lesson in surrogate:

Part 1) Why does Renton give Tommy his first hit of heroin, and is he aware of the peril involved? Discuss the clear-headedness of this moment and Renton's culpability in what follows. How does the inhumanity of this choice lead to moments of deep empathy later?

Part 2) Discuss Renton's worldview throughout the novel. What does he feel about friendship, and how does this color his attitude toward his mates? What role does heroin play in this worldview? Explore the transition of Renton out of this worldview.

Part 3) Discuss the final passages of the novel. Why does Renton choose to betray his mates in the final moment? What does he gain from it, and what introspection does he offer about the ramifications of the decision?

Essay Topic 2

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?

Essay Topic 3

The characters of Trainspotting are deeply complex. They are capable of horrid actions and desirous of profound love and happiness. Write a three-part essay about three such characters. What hurtful or careless actions does each perpetrate? How does he or she show empathy or love through the novel? Does this person find happiness in the end?

Part 1) Kelly

Part 2) Davie

Part 3) Spud

(see the answer keys)

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