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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. Which character says that she was thinking seriously of eating "yogurt and wheat germ" at this first lunch depicted in the novel?

2. What does the Gladney family do together on Friday nights?

3. Alfonse is an example of one of the academic emigres from where?

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

5. Eric tells Jack that he looks different without what?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is Bob Pardee passing through town?

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

3. Why did Jack name Heinrich Heinrich?

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

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

6. What does Babette look like?

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

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

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

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

These characters are preoccupied, and maybe even obsessed, with their own deaths. Compare and contrast Jack's obsession with his mortality and Babette's obsession with hers. Write an essay that details the ways their fear of death are similar and how they are different. Be sure to describe specific instances in the novel and how the reader comes to understand each.

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

Wilder, Jack and Babette's youngest child, is non-verbal in a family of fast-talking, bright and pretty evasive/elliptical conversationalists. Write an analytical essay that explains Wilder's function in the narrative. Be sure to offer an explanation of how Wilder affects the plot, characterization, mood, etc.

(see the answer keys)

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