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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 medical issue is Jack's doctor concerned with?

2. What is Babette's father's name?

3. What strange condition is the spill said to cause eventually?

4. What does Heinrich bring with him when they finally evacuate?

5. Who pumps the gas when the family is evacuating?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Winnie Richards think of Babette's condition and of the true purpose of Dylar?

2. According to Jack, what is the effect weather reports have on the elderly?

3. Who is Willie Mink?

4. Where does Jack drive Willie Mink and why?

5. As Jack is going faithfully to his German lessons, what is he is practicing?

6. Murray says that there are two kinds of people, killers and diers. Which one does Jack say he is and why?

7. When Murray and Jack discuss the weird feelings they have about Howard, what are some of the things they mention that just do not feel right?

8. What happened to Orest's quest to break the world record? What happens when he tries to do it?

9. Why does Jack follow Winnie Richards in Chapter 25? Are his reasons valid?

10. What is the (potentially wrong) answer Denise gives Babette when Babette wonders why UFOs always come from upstate?

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

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?

Essay Topic 3

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?

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