View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What method does Grady habitually utilize when he writes a novel?

2. Grady tells the reader that his father died by what method?

3. In what setting does Chapter 10 take place?

4. On which street does Grady live in a house originally built in 1915?

5. It is revealed in Chapter 4 that Grady is having an affair with which character?

Short Essay Questions

1. How do Q's ideas included in his lecture in Chapter 10 echo those in Grady's philosophy about the "midnight disease" (23)?

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

3. What major news does Sara reveal to Grady in Chapter 5?

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

5. How old was Grady when his mother died and what was the cause of her death, as revealed in Chapter 11?

6. What two roles does Walter play in Grady's life and why?

7. What does Grady do with Doctor Dee's body after it is determined that the dog is dead?

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

9. Characterize Grady's relationship with Crabtree.

10. Who was the first "real writer" (3) Grady ever knew and what was his eventual fate?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the many instances of irony within the narrative of Wonder Boys, and analyze Chabon’s purpose for including each instance you discuss.

Essay Topic 2

Read a lengthy interview with Chabon. Write an essay explaining the connection between several of Chabon’s answers and a major theme presented within the text of Wonder Boys.

Essay Topic 3

William Faulkner once famously claimed that the most important literature deals with the subject of the human heart in conflict with itself. Explain how the theme of Human versus Self is demonstrated within Chabon’s novel Wonder Boys. Create a decisive, arguable claim and prove it with quotes from the novel.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 906 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample