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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 is Jack impressed with the banking system?

2. What is Heinrich's mother's name?

3. Who is Bee's mother?

4. What is happening to Heinrich's hair?

5. What is his opponent in jail for?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe Jack's German teacher. What does he look like?

2. Jack opens up Chapter 20 by listing various people's deaths and talking about how they died. Name one of them, and describe why you think Jack is listing them.

3. Why does Bee say that the people who crash landed went through a bad experience for nothing?

4. What does Bee claim about the conflict between her mother and stepfather?

5. Characterize Heinrich in terms of the discussion about the rain he has with Jack. What does DeLillo want us to understand about him?

6. Why does Murray come over to watch television with the kids?

7. Why is Bob Pardee passing through town?

8. Why does the chancellor suggest that Jack should change his persona, and what does he suggest?

9. What kind of exercise does Babette do? Does Jack join in?

10. Why is the chair of the department of American environments (the pop-culture department) opposed to Murray's establishment of Elvis studies?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe the role that television plays in the life of the Gladney family. What is DeLillo trying to communicate about the way Americans watch television, or about what is produced and broadcast? Is this novel a critique of a "media generation"? Has television changed substantially since 1985? Would a new version of this novel include the internet in similar ways? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

Write an analytical essay that explains and contextualizes the ways this family communicates with each other. Do they all communicate in the same way? Does anyone in the family communicate differently? Be sure to include specific exploration of DeLillo's dialogue as a fictional technique that demonstrate what these various communications styles mean thematically.

Essay Topic 3

The Nyodene D. spill evokes real danger and expresses real anxiety on the part of DeLillo that Americans could be affected by such an "event". Jack even expresses the opinion that only the poor and exposed could be in danger from such things. Write an analytical essay that discusses disaster as a theme in this novel, citing specific textual examples to explain your ideas. How is this a reflection of the time when this book was written, and would it be different if DeLillo were writing today?

(see the answer keys)

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