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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. What does the narrator write that the fishes of the sea speak in Chapter 7?

2. What is the name of the "skid row" hotel in which the narrator has been staying in Chapter 1?

3. What book does Jack refer to reading in the cabin at 3 a.m. in Chapter 5?

4. Where is the narrator hoping to hitchhike in Chapter 10?

5. What does the narrator see on his porch from the mailbox which makes him happy in Chapter 9?

Short Essay Questions

1. What animal does Jack encounter in Chapter 4? How does he describe this and the landscape?

2. Where is Jack in the beginning of the novel? What were his initial plans and why did they change?

3. How does Jack describe the nature surrounding him in Chapter 3?

4. What is Jack's initial interaction with the animals around the cabin like in Chapter 18?

5. What spurs Jack to believe he is not wanted at the cabin in Chapter 9?

6. What story does Jack relate in Chapter 6 of Hollywood? Why does the author relate this information?

7. Who does Jack quote in Chapter 10 as he leaves the cabin? What does he say?

8. In what ways does the narrator reflect upon the history of Big Sur in Chapter 7?

9. How do the protagonist's feelings of himself in Chapters 1 and 2 foreshadow that which occurs later in the novel?

10. What quotes of Emerson does Kerouac use in Chapter 7? What do these propel the narrator to do?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the theme of "man and nature" in Big Sur. What symbols and motifs are used to illustrate this theme?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the value of things in Jack's mind. How did the Beatnik ideals differ from those in mainstream society during this era? What is more important: a sink scourer or a nice suit?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss and describe the foreshadowing which Kerouac used in Big Sur. How overt is his use of foreshadowing? What are his intentions with this technique?

(see the answer keys)

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