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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. Where does the narrator worry his picture will show up when he's sneaking into the strip club?

2. What was the name of the prostitute the narrator and Monkey picked up?

3. What is the name of the strip club the narrator speaks of going to when he was underage?

4. What is the name of the girl whom the protagonist has his first sexual experience?

5. Where was Kay from?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Alex describe the "Sunday morning ritual" in his neighborhood?

2. What does the narrator recall which might be "the root of his problems" in Chapter 4 regarding his mother?

3. What does Alex say he sometimes fantasizes about in Chapter 6?

4. What happened with Mandel and Bubbles? What does this prompt the narrator to need to know?

5. What does Alex say about the photo of Jesus in Bubbles's house?

6. What does Alex remark about Israel?

7. How does the narrator's first sexual experience occur with Bubbles?

8. Who is Bubbles? What was she to Alex?

9. What, according to the narrator, are the worst sins he has committed in Chapter 4?

10. When do the narrator's doubts about the Monkey reach a climax?

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

What does the narrator say regarding the psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud? Why is this relevant to the novel? What chapter is named after the writings of Freud? Why?

Essay Topic 3

Compare and contrast the character of Naomi with that of the narrator's mother. How are these two women similar? How are they different? How does the narrator feel about this connection?

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