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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 the narrator's father accuse his son-in-law of being?

2. Where is it "okay" for the narrator's family to eat pork?

3. Who does the narrator now work for in Chapter 4, Part 2?

4. What does the narrator say that with sex the human imagination runs to?

5. What beach does the narrator's family stay at during the summers?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the narrator feel about the laws of Judaism?

2. What does Alex remark about his father's bowel movements in Chapter 4?

3. What does the narrator's father urge him to take lessons in? Why?

4. Who does the narrator's father hold up as someone to emulate? Why?

5. What does the narrator's mother believe he has been eating in Chapter 2? How does she react?

6. What is the story the narrator tells in the beginning of Chapter 4? Why does he do what he does in this story?

7. What is the one meaningful conversation the narrator speaks of having with his sister in Chapter 3?

8. Where does the narrator's father work? What line of business is he in? Where is his "route?"

9. What were the narrator's father's ambitions for him growing up?

10. What does the narrator say he grew up to NOT be, at least, in Chapter 4? Why?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Compare and contrast the narrator's experiences of sexuality in America to those of his experiences in Israel. What significance is implied by these differences?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the different types of conflict in Portnoy's Complaint. What is the predominant conflict of the novel? What are some of the conflicts the narrator describes between himself and others?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the role of bigotry and racism in Portnoy's Complaint. Which characters embody racist traits? How does the narrator relate these? How does this affect the narrator's career choice?

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