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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 is Julius’ relationship to Moji Kasali?

2. How does Julius regard the Africans he sees in Chapter 11, once he finds out where they really come from?

3. How old was Julius when Moji said he forced himself on her?

4. What does Dr. Saito die of?

5. Whom does Moji say she has told about the time Julius forced himself on her?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the postcard Julius keeps on the corkboard behind his desk?

2. How does Julius characterize his trip to the tailor to get clothing for his father’s funeral?

3. How does Julius say that he reacted when he saved the boy’s life who had been about to drown?

4. What is the leap in time and setting that has taken place between chapters 20 and 21?

5. What is it that Julius says cut him to the quick when he was talking with Dr. Maillotte over dinner?

6. What are Julius’ dreams like, after he hears about Dr. Saito’s bedbugs?

7. What is Julius’ reaction to meeting Moji Kasali?

8. What experience does Julius have in Chinatown, that gives him the “disorientation and bliss” of living in his childhood self again?

9. How is Julius affected by V.’s death?

10. How does Julius characterize his stance on global warming, during the picnic in Central Park, and what does he say his stance indicates about himself?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does Julius grow or change over the course of the novel? What is he like at the start of the novel, and what is he like at the end? What are the main events that may have changed him? How do you account for the changes he undergoes? Or, how do you account for his lack of change?

Essay Topic 2

Write a character sketch of the author based on his style and content. What can we tell about him, based on the choices he makes in terms of description, characterization and plot? What values does he hold dear? What are his hopes and fears? What kind of person do you think he is? Anchor your sketch with passages in the book.

Essay Topic 3

What is missing from this book? What should have been covered or presented that was not? What is the effect of this absence? Describe an element that ought to have been covered, and explain why it would have made the book stronger.

(see the answer keys)

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