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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. Which of the following sobriquets is used for Robbie?

2. On which of the following avenues does Neville leave Sierra after returning from Columbia University?

3. Which of the following shows in the mural Robbie has painted at Club Kalfour?

4. In which of the following fields does Sierra note Bennie has an interest?

5. Which of the following does Sierra read in Wick’s notes that he wants?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is the Tower described when it is introduced?

2. What outfit is Bennie wearing when she leaves to attend the first party of the summer?

3. How is the failure of people to see the changes to shadowshaped artwork explained?

4. How does Sierra describe the band at Club Kalfour upon seeing them?

5. What is Sierra’s stated “policy on cute boys, and really, boys in general” (21)?

6. What comment from Lázaro does Sierra read in Wick’s notes when she first peruses them near the beginning of Chapter Nine?

7. What outfit is Sierra wearing when she leaves to attend the first party of the summer?

8. How is Sierra’s father described when he is introduced?

9. What does Sierra note as evidence of Lázaro’s sweetness to her childhood self?

10. How is Bennie’s brother, Vincent, reported to have died, and when?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In Chapter Twenty-eight, Juan reports a translation of a poem he has from Lázaro:
When the full moon kills the ancient sun
As the one lures the other who in turn lures the one
When the shadows swarm
Take hold in their form
And burst through the borough like a bullet from a gun

Come to the crossroads, to the crossroads come
Where the powers converge and become one
See my enemies fall
As my spirit voice calls
And the energy surges like a thousand suns

At the water-bound carnival of destiny and chance
I’m the whisper you hear as you enter the trance
When the lanterns go dead
I’ll light the path ahead
From where lonely women go to dance. (159-60)

What is the structure of the poem, and how does that structure contribute to the poem’s overall meaning?

Essay Topic 2

Explicate the significance of Lucera’s name.

Essay Topic 3

What attitude towards formal academic study does the novel present, and how does it show it?

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This section contains 660 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample