View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Bukowski hear through the wall in Beer and Poets and Talk?

2. Why does Bukowski hate the woman who has entered the shop in A Rain of Women?

3. In One for Walter Lowenfels, what does the woman believe in?

4. What do the two young men reply to Bukowski when he asks for a cigarette in The Big Pot Game?

5. How much money does Bukowski win in Flower Horse?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Bukowski's obsession with death and sex show up in Notes of a Potential Suicide?

2. Why does Bukowski usually avoid talking about literature, and what reminds him of of this in Beer and Poets and Talk?

3. How do the older men contrast with the younger ones in The Big Pot Game?

4. Why does Bukowski welcome death in A Popular Man?

5. What does Bukowski think of people's taste in music?

6. What does Bukowski hallucinate, and what is it associated with in The Blanket?

7. In Flower Horse, what do the track and gambling represent?

8. What does the murder of Carol's zoo in Animal Crackers in My Soup represent?

9. What do Bukowski's visitors take away from him in A Popular Man?

10. What happens when Bukowski is discovered with Mary in Purple as an Iris?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In "I Shot a Man in Reno," runs into several people that cause him to be very self-critical. Why is Bukowski so self-critical? How do his own ideas of himself contrast with the ideas others have of him? Make sure you answer each question with evidence and support from the story.

Essay Topic 2

Many stories in "Tales of Ordinary Madness" involve a serious addiction to gambling. Using at least two stories as examples, describe how gambling play a role in the main characters' lives. Describe the cycle of addiction. How does gambling affect the characters' lives? Make sure you answer each question with evidence and support from the stories.

Essay Topic 3

In Tales or Ordinary Madness, "A .45 to Pay the Rent" and "Doing Time with Public Enemy No. 1" are two different stories about men in some kind of prison. How is Bukowski different from Duke, personality-wise? How do they deal with their different trials in life, and who do you think handles their "imprisonment" better? Make sure you answer each question with evidence and support from the stories.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 771 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample