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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 was O'Rourke's family's socioeconomic status when he was a child?

2. O'Rourke considers what war to be a rare success for U.S. foreign policy?

3. How many poor people does O'Rourke say ask him for money on his way to work every day?

4. What year is the District of Columbia Housing Act from?

5. What Washington Square Press series does "The Negro in the City" belong to?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does O'Rourke feel about claims of collateral damage during Operation Just Cause?

2. Why does O'Rourke feels that Blatherboro is out of its depth when it comes to city planning?

3. How does O'Rourke feel about American poverty at the beginning of "Poverty Policy: How to Endow Privation"?

4. What does O'Rourke see when he spends an evening with the Washington DC police department?

5. How does O'Rourke feel about Panama when he goes there in the wake of Operation Just Cause?

6. Why does O'Rourke seem to think his family was stronger because they were not given any help?

7. How does O'Rourke feel about the war in Afghanistan?

8. How does O'Rourke describe the USS Mobile Bay?

9. Why does O'Rourke say that Blatherboro suffers from stupidity?

10. How does O'Rourke feel about the Guardian Angels after his experience with them?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Explore O'Rourke's views on the two presidential conventions he visits. How does O'Rourke describe the Republican convention? How does he describe the Democratic convention? In what ways are the conventions similar? How are they different?

Essay Topic 2

Look at the significance of Jesse Jackson. What characteristics did O'Rourke see in Jackson that he was impressed by? What techniques does the author use to show that he is impressed by Jackson? Why does the author mention Jackson? What is he trying to say about him and about politicians in general?

Essay Topic 3

Explore the author's feelings about the Republican and Democratic parties. How does he characterize Republicans and their ideals? How does he characterize Democrats and their ideals? What characteristic do the parties share? What faults does he find with each party? Does he say anything positive about each party?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 865 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample