View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What about Leyner's image-fiction made Wallace wonder if pop-culture is all people have become?
(a) Leyner is a pop-culture character.
(b) Leyner is very involved in making pop-culture.
(c) Leyner's heavy use of pop-culture references.
(d) Leyner praises pop-culture.

2. Wallace explains that Harper's Magazine has a primarily _________ audience.
(a) Female.
(b) Young.
(c) East Coast.
(d) Midwestern.

3. What does Wallace most like about the Expo Building at the state fair?
(a) There's lots of shopping.
(b) It's big.
(c) It's air conditioned.
(d) It's quiet.

4. At the beginning of "E Unibus Pluram," what does Wallace describe fiction writers as enjoying?
(a) Watching others.
(b) Traveling.
(c) Playing sports.
(d) Reading.

5. According to Wallace, why does watching television beget more television?
(a) People become addicted.
(b) They want to see more of the world.
(c) People feel persecuted for watching it, so they watch more.
(d) The world can't live up to the standards of television.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why do the students disagree with their professor in "E Unibus Pluram"?

2. What type of cinema does Wallace believe Lynch has influenced?

3. What is Wallace's explanation for why Midwesterners are alienated?

4. Why does Wallace call his tennis style "creative"?

5. Wallace believes people recognize pop-culture references but are _______ with them.

Short Essay Questions

1. According to Wallace, what tendencies does television appeal to? Who is television's target?

2. How does Wallace suggest a writer rebel against the "new ironic orthodoxy"?

3. Why was Wallace assigned to the Illinois State Fair article for Harper's?

4. After listening to Governor Jim Edgar's speech, how does Wallace feel about Illinois? Why?

5. What does Wallace observe as ironic in television? Does he see this as detrimental? How?

6. Why does Wallace feel the Desert Competition is appropriate for Illinois?

7. What is a "Lynchian" film?

8. Does Wallace admire Lynch? Why or why not?

9. To Wallace, is he still a Midwesterner? Why or why not?

10. According to Wallace, what is a "Kmart Person"?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 737 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample