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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. Which of the following is not one of the partners in the law firm Sherman consults?

2. Of what profession was Judy's father?

3. Who is holding the society party that Sherman and Judy are attending?

4. To which literary character do the assistant DA's in the Bronx Courthouse compare Abe Weiss?

5. Which of the following characters is not present in the meeting at the beginning of Chapter 16?

Short Essay Questions

1. What transformation occurs in Fallow's outlook on life during this chapter?

2. What does Sherman realize about Maria during their conversation in Chapter 11?

3. Why is the Herbert 92X trial becoming overblown at the Bronx courthouse?

4. Describe Maria Ruskin.

5. In Chapter 13, what are Sherman's thoughts about telling Judy the truth?

6. How do the Brits at Leicester's generally pay their tabs?

7. Describe Reverend Bacon.

8. What are Kramer's principle concerns about the Henry Lamb case?

9. What is the Mayor's principle fear during his town hall in the Prologue?

10. What do Detectives Martin and Goldberg discover at the parking garage by Sherman's building?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Location is very important to the novel, because Tom Wolfe's is a segregated place, where entire borough's can go unexplored by large groups of people. Write an essay comparing the world of Manhattan with that of the Bronx. Cite descriptions by narrator and character and specific incidents that occur in the plot. What do these places mean to different groups of New Yorkers?

Essay Topic 2

Using the high society parties in Bonfire of the Vanities, write an essay about Wolfe's attitude toward the ceremonies of the upper-crust of New York society. What is expected and decried within these functions? Use specific characters (Judy McCoy, Bunning) and their interactions with Sherman McCoy to argue your point.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay comparing the character arcs of Sherman McCoy and Larry Kramer. Are the two men mirrors of each other in the novel? How do they both view their lives and the people who care about them? Does Kramer's resentment of the privileged WASP existence also indicate a desire to have that life?

(see the answer keys)

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