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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. Whose house is Davie in in Traditional English Breakfast?

2. Who appears to absconded with the pot in Grieving and Mourning in Port Sunshine?

3. Speaking to Dianne's parent in this chapter, Renton says he works for what?

4. in Inner Shitty, why is Begbie leaving town with Renton?

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

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What sadistic joke does Johnny Swan play in The Skag Boys?

3. What happens to the communal pot in Grieving and Mourning in Port Sunshine?

4. Describe the activities of the gang in Grieving and Mourning in Port Sunshine.

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

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

7. How is Begbie's home-life portrayed at the beginning of Inner Shitty?

8. How does Spud get in a brawl in Na Na and Other Nazis?

9. What does Renton discover the morning after having sex with Dianne?

10. In what state is Renton at the beginning of the chapter?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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

Essay Topic 2

Throughout the novel, Welsh juxtaposes the somber and the irreverent. In an essay, discuss three instances in which a moment of deep gravity is undercut by humor or some other undermining element? Why do you think Welsh chooses to undermine his own emotional moments? What is he indicating about life and the bonds that connect us?

Essay Topic 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

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