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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. Who does Oedipa find at an all-night Mexican diner in San Francisco?

2. Oedipa goes to Zapf's Used Books to buy a copy of what book?

3. In her investigations in Chapter 4, Oedipa goes to what kind of meeting at Yoyodyne?

4. What does the owner of the government surplus store, Winthrop Tremaine, tell Oedipa there is a large demand for?

5. What happens to Oedipa after she knocks on the door of Dr. Hilarius's office in Chapter 5?

Short Essay Questions

1. Give examples of individuals with the post horn symbol who are somehow alienated from society.

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

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

4. What is meant by Oedipa seeing Genghis Cohen, the philatelist, framed in a long succession of doorways?

5. Why does Oedipa think it is possible that her search for Tristero may be a hoax created by Pierce Inverarity?

6. What causes Oedipa to realize that every source of information on the Tristero can somehow be traced to Inverarity?

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

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

9. Why are WASTE mail boxes located under freeways?

10. The overall crisis Oedipa faces by the end of the novel could be summed up how?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How is Oedipa figured as a modern Rapunzel locked in a tower from which no prince can free her? How does Pynchon repeatedly emphasize that what confines her is visited upon her from outside? How does this mystery of what constitutes this malignant external force drive the entire narrative of The Crying of Lot 49?

Essay Topic 2

Fate is a dominant theme in The Crying of Lot 49. 1) Discuss this theme throughout the novel. 2) How is Oedipa trying to find out the fate of America, not just her own fate?

Essay Topic 3

The presence of numerous male characters in the narrative who are unable to truly love Oedipa alludes to Freud's theory of the Oedipal complex.

1) Explain Freud's theory and how it relates to The Crying of Lot 49.

3) Show specifically what each of these male characters represents to Oedipa and how they abandon her: Metzger, Driblette and Mucho.

(see the answer keys)

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