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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 name of the cemetery Jack visits?

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

3. Where has Bee been?

4. What is the German teacher's name?

5. How old is Heinrich?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. Why is Bob Pardee passing through town?

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

5. Why did Jack name Heinrich Heinrich?

6. What does Babette look like?

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

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

To these characters, experiences are validated by external recognition, especially media recognition. While this fixation on television and radio is tied to pop-culture consumerism, it is also a thematic fixation of this novel. Discuss why DeLillo called this book "White Noise". Be sure to include your interpretation of this phrase literally and symbolically, as well as any examples of its use in the text itself. How does it relate to the themes of the text? Is it a good title?

Essay Topic 3

Compare and contrast Jack's wives. Write an essay that describes Dana, Janet, Tweedy and Babette in turn, and explains the ways in which they are similar or different. Why did Jack want to marry them? What caused conflicts in their marriages? What does this show readers about Jack?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 742 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample