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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 movies turned the narrator away from the cinema for good?

2. The narrator's mother was a notable interpreter of ________.

3. What does the narrator put in his morning coffee?

4. What does the narrator do for the first time with a woman the night he meets the girl?

5. Who stops the narrator on the street after he gets the cat?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the narrator's experience like when he goes to the animal shelter to pick up his cat?

2. How has the narrator supplemented his income over the years?

3. What request did the narrator's mother make on her deathbed?

4. What evidence does the narrator give of his healthy sex life?

5. What happens when the narrator is the honored guest at a concert? What does he remember most from the evening?

6. What is the narrator's relationship like with his housekeeper?

7. What happens when the narrator goes to turn in his resignation at the newspaper?

8. What is the narrator's economic situation?

9. What does the narrator decide to give himself for a birthday gift?

10. What is the narrator's first experience like with the girl?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the theme of sexual morality and how it resonates throughout the book. Define theme in your discussion and support your statements with examples and quotes.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the symbolism of the shelter cat the narrator acquires. Define symbolism and support your statements with textual references.

Essay Topic 3

What does the narrator remember when he returns to the part of town where his father used to work? What does this memory illuminate about the narrator and the choices he made throughout his life?

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