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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 Deb when she arrived in the country where she was ultimately adopted by the Warshaws?

2. Grady says in Chapter 20, "It's always been hard for me to tell the difference between denial and what used to be known as" (177) what?

3. In Chapter 27, Grady reads a novel manuscript written by which character?

4. What sound alerts Grady to Crabtree's presence in his house in Chapter 16?

5. Early in Chapter 29, Grady drives back toward which city?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Chabon go about depicting Irving as a man who insists on honesty?

2. In what location does Grady find James when he goes looking for him at the Warshaws' house in Chapter 23?

3. In what way does the theme of appearance versus reality appear in tandem with Grady's characterization of the "midnight disease" (23)?

4. In what way does the theme of hope emerge within Chapter 20?

5. What is the symbolism of horse chestnut trees in the novel Wonder Boys?

6. What were Emily's original career aspirations and what does she do for a living now?

7. How does Chabon create suspense at the end of Chapter 33 and for what purpose does he create it?

8. What happened to the Warshaws' one biological child?

9. How does Crabtree determine the address of James's grandparents, Amanda and Fred Leer?

10. Describe an instance when Chabon uses Grady's actions to demonstrate a character trait of Crabtree's.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Determine Chabon’s message regarding the relationship between comedy and tragedy, as depicted in the novel Wonder Boys.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss Chabon's purpose for juxtaposing at least two different locations in a particular way within the text of Wonder Boys.

Essay Topic 3

Sensory details are used frequently by Chabon in order to create vivid pictures of the places depicted over the course of the novel Wonder Boys. Choose three scenes in which sensory details are heavily used and discuss how the sensory details used set a particular mood for each of the three scenes.

(see the answer keys)

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