View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does the narrator characterize Inez's daily political life in this chapter?

2. When does Didion say is a good time for women in their forties?

3. Why does Harry have to leave Jakarta suddenly?

4. What character gives Didion a copy of the police report regarding the Paul Christian murders?

5. Who is the witness at the wedding of Inez and Harry Victor?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the famous WNBC footage of Inez Victor.

2. How does Billy Dillon get Frank Tawagata on his side?

3. How does Jessie return to the United States?

4. How does Didion characterize Jack Lovett's life?

5. Why is the lie that Jack Lovett is in the military hard to swallow?

6. Why does Billy Dillon not allow Inez to work with refugees?

7. What are the circumstances surrounding Harry and Inez's wedding?

8. What is the purpose of Paul Christian's room at the YMCA?

9. Why does Harry Victor defend Adlai's returning to school?

10. How are Jack Lovett and Inez Victor reunited in Chapter 11?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay about the Christian family. Using three members, discuss how they are outsiders to their traditional surroundings. How do they view the world of modern Hawaiian society? What are their business endeavors? To what extent are they always held remote from the rest of Hawaiian society? How does the local population view the Christian family?

Essay Topic 2

Living beneath the surface of the narrative is the end of the Vietnam War. In the first half of the novel, Didion makes explicit mention of the Fall of Saigon. Write an essay about this historical moment becomes incredibly important both thematically and in terms of the narrative. Which characters are personally involved in the end of the war? How does defeat in Vietnam ripple through the lives of the characters in the novel and through the history it dramatizes?

Essay Topic 3

In Democracy, the media becomes an entity unto itself, forever reducing characters to their most basic form and denying the world a cultivated understanding of them. Write an essay about three prominent media portraits in the novel. How do they neglect something essential about the character or characters contained within? What image of the character or characters does each create in its words and visuals? What is the article or image's importance to the narrative?

Part 1) Janet Ziegler's television interview about Inez.

Part 2) Inez's AP interview regarding her memory.

Part 3) The video of Inez dancing on the roof of the St. Regis.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 987 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample