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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. According to Heinrich, what is the result when plastic furniture burns?

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

3. When Steffie answers the phone, who wants to come over?

4. What is Heinrich's middle name?

5. Why does Heinrich interrupt Jack and the girls?

Short Essay Questions

1. Babette's class at the Church is made of what kind of people learning what activities?

2. Heinrich is playing chess with someone through letters. Describe his opponent.

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

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

5. Why does Babette ask if Bee and Steffie know each other?

6. Who makes up the group of teachers in the pop culture department?

7. What is the conflict between Babette and Denise, vis-a-vis sugarless gum?

8. Why did Babette want to see "station-wagon" day?

9. Describe the family lunch the Gladneys eat, in terms of who attended, what they ate and what the mood was.

10. 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.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Babette teaches frivolous and ridiculous classes; Jack teaches Hitler studies rather than German History or Politics, and his colleague Murray wants to create an Elvis studies department. Write an analytical essay in which you explore and discuss what you think DeLillo is communicating about education, teaching, higher education, or learning. Be sure to consider Jack's attempts at irony.

Essay Topic 2

Foreshadowing is an important technique. Write an essay that explains how DeLillo foreshadows the Airborne Toxic Event with a series of prior events. Describe the events and be specific about his foreshadowing technique.

Essay Topic 3

While Jack is obsessed with a mass-murderer, he is afraid of his own death. Babette seems to think that Jack's biology and jealousy make him predestined to be homicidal. Interrogate her claims, based on evidence from the text. Why does Jack resort to violence? What does it have to do with his academic obsession with Hitler and maybe even his J.A.K. persona? How does DeLillo use German and associations with Germany to explore Jack's fear?

(see the answer keys)

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