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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 the title of the second part of the book?

2. What do underage kids need to get married?

3. Why does Hughes' building look abandoned?

4. What type of building is the center?

5. What does Lucille's husband do for a living?

Short Essay Questions

1. How has Las Vegas turned marriage into a big business?

2. How do people treat their marriages in Las Vegas?

3. What inconsistencies did the police find with Lucille's story?

4. Why does Didion keep notes?

5. Why does Didion think she wrote about the woman in a dirty wrapper?

6. What is Didion's view on the center?

7. Describe Lucille Miller's life at the beginning of Part 1.

8. How does Didion describe Las Vegas weddings?

9. What reason does Didion give for the center's existence?

10. Why did Didion choose Howard Hughes as her subject?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Choose one of the famous people Didion portrays in the book and examine his/her life. How does Didion represent him or her in the essay? Is this an accurate representation of this person?

Essay Topic 2

Examine how Hollywood had changed in the Sixties compared to Hollywood in the Thirties and the Forties in terms of the following:

1) Film stories, style and themes

2) The general running of the industry.

Essay Topic 3

Examine the books chronological setting.

1) What were the main concerns during the 1960s? How does Didion express these concerns?

2) In what ways do you think the essays' meanings would change if they were set in today's society?

(see the answer keys)

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