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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 do Manx's friends think he will struggle to sell the baseball?

2. What crisis occurred in October 1952?

3. Who is Matt waiting for at Tucson airport?

4. What do Lundy and his wife do when the get back to their hotel?

5. Where does Klara meet her daughter for lunch?

Short Essay Questions

1. What do the fragments portray in this section?

2. What do we find out about Carlo Strasse in this section?

3. What do Miles and Klara do together int his section?

4. How does Manx feel when he talks about the baseball?

5. How does Bruce describe the President's decorator?

6. How does Manx react to the super's accusations that he stole the shovels?

7. Describe the meeting between Klara and her daughter?

8. How does the author describe Lenny Bruce?

9. What is the scene at the Yankee stadium when Manx arrives?

10. Describe Lenny Bruce's performance in New York in October 1962?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Why has the author chosen Nick and Klara's affair as the central part of his story? Choose two other characters that the author could ahve chosen as the central part of his story. How would the novel change?

Essay Topic 2

How did the Cold War effect American society in the fifties? How are characters such as Nick effected by the events of the Cold War later on in their lives?

Essay Topic 3

How is the Texas Highway killing significant to the story? Why do you think the author does explore the killings and the murderer further?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 750 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample