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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 Vaughan do as he drives past the crash at the junction of the eastern descent ramp of the flyover?

2. What fiberglass replica does Seagrave have in his show-room?

3. Ballard sees that next to the photos of various wounds from Vaughan's questionnaire, there are details of what?

4. What kind of equipment does Vaughan have in his apartment?

5. In Ballard's last days with Vaughan, they no longer drive the motorway searching for accidents, but do what instead?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Ballard's response to Catherine sleeping with Vaughan?

2. What does Ballard think of when he introduces Catherine to Vaughan and why is it relevant?

3. What type of questions from Vaughan's questionnaire is Ballard specifically drawn to?

4. What is Elizabeth Taylor shooting at the studio where Ballard works and how is it significant?

5. Who are the spectators at the accident site involving the taxi and limo and what role does the scene have in the larger story?

6. At Seagrave's, what does Ballard deduce about Vaughan's photographs of Elizabeth Taylor and provides insight into why Vaughan followed Ballard?

7. How does Gabrielle respond to Ballard's staring at the scars on her legs and how does Ballard interpret her response?

8. Why is Seagrave's disappearance important to the plot?

9. Where do Catherine and Vaughan have sex and why is it significant?

10. When Ballard and Vaughan arrive at the accident site involving a minor accident, what do they discover?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How did readers respond to "Crash" when it was first published? Discuss the critical response of the novel, including reviews, interviews with Ballard, and other readers' response to the novel. How was the novel both vilified or censored as well as hailed by the reading public?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss surveillance as a major theme in the novel by comparing two characters.

1) How do these characters survey others?

2) What are the motives for the characters' surveillance?

3) What do the characters learn by surveying others?

4) What devices, mechanical or otherwise, does Ballard use as instruments of surveillance?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the uses of technology in "Crash."

1) What is the role of technology in the characters' lives?

2) How do the characters respond to and identify with technology?

3) How is technology a metaphor for evolution?

(see the answer keys)

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