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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 is the structure Murray and Jack visit, which is claimed to be the "most photographed" such structure?

2. Which pop-culture icon is Murray most interested in studying?

3. How much is tuition at the College-on-the-Hill?

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

5. Heinrich interrupts Jack and his sisters as they look through what book?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Heinrich stay away when the family gathers to watch the sunset.

2. Why does Jack think the Treadwells did not ask for help when they were lost?

3. Why do they bring Wilder to the doctor in Chapter 16?

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

5. Why is Bob Pardee passing through town?

6. What is the mood of the family when they are shopping at the mall?

7. Describe what happens when Denise confronts Babette about the Dylar on the way to the mall.

8. Describe the student body of the College-on-the-Hill.

9. What is Babette's attitude toward parents watching television with their children?

10. What is Jack's position at the college?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Another critique of dominant society that DeLillo offers in this novel is Dylar, a fictional drug that is as absurd as it is plausible. Consider Dylar on its symbolic literal and symbolic levels, and discuss how this pharmaceutical affects these characters, and what DeLillo wants to say about a reliance on designer prescription drugs. Was DeLillo prescient? Based on your research into medications, are there drugs on the market like Dylar?

Essay Topic 2

Compare and contrast Winnie Richard's attitudes about death, mortality and dying with those of Orest Mercator. How are these two alike, and how are they different? What does Jack learn from each of them?

Essay Topic 3

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.

(see the answer keys)

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