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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. How old was Grady when he found Albert Vetch dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound?

2. Which object in an award-winning film is discussed by three characters in Chapter 13?

3. In Chapter 12, Crabtree insists on reviewing the manuscript of whose latest novel?

4. In Chapter 15, it is revealed that Grady's house lies what distance away from the campus where he teaches?

5. In what year of college was Grady enrolled when his grandmother died of pneumonia?

Short Essay Questions

1. Though Grady cannot remember the night of his father's suicide, he remembers what other event vividly from around that time?

2. What type of narrator is featured in Michael Chabon's novel Wonder Boys?

3. In what way is James shown to be a bit eccentric and how does Grady interpret this quality?

4. What does Grady mean when he repeatedly refers to the "midnight disease" (23) in the novel?

5. In what way does the motif of dreams emerge within Chapter 14 and for what purpose?

6. In what way does the motif of dreams emerge in Chapter 3 and for what purpose does Chabon utilize the motif?

7. What were the circumstances of Grady's parents' deaths?

8. What is the significance of the phrase, "He's writing his name in water" (93)?

9. For what reason is Grady still in shock that Sara ever became involved with him?

10. What is the significance of the date January 14, 1954 featured in Chapter 8?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What messages does Chabon send about friendship in the novel Wonder Boys and what themes are employed in order to send these messages to the reader?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss Chabon's choice to tell the story of Wonder Boys using the first person point of view. What elements of the novel's themes lend themselves to this choice and what are Chabon’s intended effects on the reader?

Essay Topic 3

Analyze the ways in which the themes of adaptability and resignation appear within Chabon’s novel Wonder Boys. What message is Chabon sending about these two themes over the course of the narrative?

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