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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 Joey believe a writer's job should be?

2. What does Mr. Youngblood do for a living?

3. Which of the following is not an excuse students give in the English classroom to ensure they won't have to speak about the assigned poetry?

4. According to the narrator, what are all underdeveloped artists bound to create?

5. How does Syphon rally his men when they seem to dwindle in the schoolyard fight?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What career path has Joey chosen for himself, and what is the general consensus from his family?

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

4. How do the school kids respond when they see Pimko spying on them, taking notes?

5. What is Joey's first impression of Zuta when he sees her?

6. What bizarre dream does Joey have the night before the novel opens?

7. How does the dual between Filidor and Momsen end?

8. What division takes place on the schoolyard after Pimko's notes have been read?

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

10. What happens in the battle of face-pulling between Syphus and Kneadus?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

At various places in the novel, the prose is broken up with chunks of poetry or quotes from other published authors. First, choose at least two of these quotes from the novel and explain their significance within the story. Then, explain what is accomplished in the novel overall by including these secondary texts. Do you think the goal is accomplished?

Essay Topic 2

The narrator of this novel has very strong opinions of what art is in society and how to accomplish it. First, describe the difference between what the narrator calls "art" with a lowercase a and "Art" with an uppercase A. Then, describe the narrator's opinions of the art community as a whole. Do you agree with the narrator's opinions of art? Finally, describe how the narrator's opinions of art reflect his feeling about this novel. Be sure to choose at least two scenes from the novel that you think best exemplify and strengthen your argument and describe them in this essay.

Essay Topic 3

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.

(see the answer keys)

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