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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 is the one person Kopydra yearns for more than any other?

2. How do the students in Joey's classroom react when they meet him for the first time?

3. How does the narrator feel about literary critics who hold fast to the iron-clad rules of construction?

4. When Joey dreams of seeing himself in various forms of maturity in a dream, how do his other "selves" treat each other?

5. How does the narrator claim novels are properly read?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Joey react when Zuta calls him a clown?

2. How does Zuta react when Joey enters her room unannounced?

3. At the opening of the novel, how does Joey feel when he first wakes from sleep?

4. Who are the Youngbloods?

5. How do the students in Joey's English class feel about the Polish poet, Slsowacki?

6. What community does the narrator claim is the stupidest community of all, and why?

7. How do the students in Joey's classroom treat their teachers?

8. How does Joey react to hearing Zuta speak on the telephone with her friends?

9. How does Dr. Pimko react when he reads the writing Joey has completed after waking from his strange dream?

10. What relationship does Pimko hope will transpire between Joey and Zuta?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Art, and writing in particular, is an theme central in the novel. What argument is the novel trying to make about structure. According to this book, what makes a good novel? What relationship should the author of the book have with its audience? How does the narrator of this novel feel about traditional form narration and how do you see that opinion reflected in the text? Choose at least two examples of scenes from the text that you believe best exemplify and strengthen your argument and describe those scenes in this essay.

Essay Topic 2

In Pimko's school, the best attribute a student can have is immaturity. First, describe why immaturity is such an alluring character trait for the students in Pimko's school. Then, describe how the teachers manipulate the immature students' brains. What commentary is Gombrowicz making about academia in general through the use of his overbearing, opinionated teachers? Choose at least two examples of scenes from the text that you believe best exemplify and strengthen your argument and describe those scenes in this essay.

Essay Topic 3

When Joey arrives at the school, his schoolmates quickly divide up into two gangs, the lads and the guys. First, explain how the division among the boys came about in the schoolyard. Who is declared the leader of each of the gangs? What characteristics define the boys who are lads and boys who are guys? In what way does the schoolyard division reflect the social divide that is taking place in the town Joey lives in? Be sure to cite examples from the text to strengthen your argument.

(see the answer keys)

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