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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. As Oedipa sits in the apartment in Berkeley concentrating and awaiting the demon's message, what is on the TV?

2. What scientific rule does the Nefastis Machine violate?

3. At Professor Bortz's house, Oedipa asks Bortz to tell her about the historical Wharfinger. Bortz sneers, saying he can only talk about __________.

4. In Chapter 5, it is explained that the equations for the entropy of heat-engines coincidentally resemble the equations for what?

5. In Chapter 4, who does Oedipa tell Stanley Koteks she is?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are the four alternatives Oedipa comes up with to explain her discoveries concerning the Tristero?

2. Oedipa discovers that the line from Driblette's version in Plays of Ford, Webster, Tourneur and Wharfinger about Trystero was replaced by another referring to what?

3. At the end of Chapter 4, Genghis Cohen explains to Oedipa that the dandelion wine is clear now, but becomes cloudy in the spring when the dandelions begin to bloom, as if the dandelions in the wine remembered. What does Oedipa muse about this?

4. By gathering clues from diverse obscure sources, what is the account of how the Tristero organization began that Oedipa pieces together?

5. What is the story behind the founding of Inamorati Anonymous?

6. Describe the Nefastis Machine as it was explained by Stanley Koteks.

7. How is the campus of Cal State different from when Oedipa was in college?

8. The men Oedipa meets on her journey end up abandoning her. What were some of their fates and what did they represent?

9. According to Jesus Arrabal, what is the miracle of Inverarity?

10. Why are WASTE mail boxes located under freeways?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the overall theme of the breakdown of communication on the societal level. How was it symbolized and explored throughout the novel? Compare this to how communication breaks down on a personal level for Oedipa.

Essay Topic 2

Oedipa's search for truth leads her to visit, along with Metzger, the Paranoids and their girlfriends, Inverarity's housing development, and Fangoso Lagoons.

1) Explain the significance of this setting to the thematic aspects of the novel.

2) Describe how the characters themselves and their actions in this scene embody certain themes of the novel.

Essay Topic 3

Pynchon bases Oedipa Maas on the Greek Myth of Oedipus.

1) Give a synopsis of the Oedipus Myth.

2) Compare the character of Oedipa to that of Oedipus. How are their struggles similar? What larger theme is Pynchon conveying with the use of the myth?

(see the answer keys)

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