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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 Bill take before he goes to sleep?

2. Which of the following is not a person drinking at the bar?

3. Who robs Bill in this chapter?

4. Who does Bill form a partnership with in this segment?

5. Where does Bill decide to drive to at the end of this segment?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the character of Nick.

2. How does Bill meet Mary?

3. How was Bill able to travel around Europe?

4. How do Bill and Roy get enough money to continue their habits?

5. What do Bill and Mary do in the apartment?

6. In what way is homosexuality a major theme in the novel?

7. What happens to Marvin when he takes junk?

8. Describe the fight that occurs in the opening ten pages.

9. What does Roy say to Lee at Lee's apartment in the opening ten pages?

10. Describe Bill's meeting with the sailor.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Junky is written in the first person with Bill Lee as narrator. Why do you think Burroughs chose to write the story in the first person? How do you think the meaning of the story would have changed if it were written in the third person?

Essay Topic 2

Write a 500-word essay either in support or against the following statement: Junky romanticizes drug abuse.

Essay Topic 3

Junky is said to be based on Burroughs' own experiences. Examine Burroughs' life and compare it the events that take place in Junky.

1) Why is the book not looked upon as strictly non-fiction?

2) What events in the novel do you think are purely fiction? Why does Burroughs fictionalize these parts in particular?

(see the answer keys)

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