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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 city does the Captain live and work in?

2. Which governmental agency has recently released a damning report regarding second-hand smoke at the beginning of Chapter 11?

3. In Chapter 2, what does Naylor suspect BR wants to do with his job?

4. What uncharacteristic act does BR take regarding Nick at the beginning of Chapter 9?

5. Why did Polly Bailey move from a Representative's office to the Moderation Council?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is USA Today trying to contact Naylor in Chapter 1?

2. Describe Budd Rohrabacher.

3. What does the reader learn about Gazelle in Chapter 7?

4. Describe the Captain.

5. What is the Academy of Tobacco Studies?

6. What bad news does BR give Naylor at the end of Chapter 4?

7. How does Heather portray Nick in her article?

8. In Chapter 1, what differences between BR and his predecessor does Naylor note?

9. Why is Nick's Today Show interview in Chapter 12 such a hit?

10. How does Oprah betray Naylor at the beginning of Chapter 5?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Christopher Buckley uses a convention in the novel that was popular both with Shakespeare and Dickens where he pointedly gives his character's names that obviously reflect their nature. Write an essay in which you choose three characters for whom this is the case. What essential part of each character does his or her name reflect? Does the name act as a forewarning about the character to the reader or does the name's meaning only become clear after the fact?

Essay Topic 2

Thank You for Smoking is in many respects a satire on the nanny-state that developed in America in the mid-1990's. Write an essay about how the efforts of the "gaspers" reflect the domestic policies of the Clinton years. How are characters like Senator Finisterre and Gordon Craighead portrayed in the novel? Are they protecting Americans, in Buckley's opinion, or curtailing their freedoms? What was happening in America at the time that this novel was published that is reflected in the narrative?

Essay Topic 3

Nick Naylor is a dynamic protagonists who achieves dizzying heights and harrowing lows over the course of the novel. Write an essay on the scope of his rise and fall, dividing it into a first part about his high water mark. What is the greatest level of power that Nick achieves as a lobbyist in the novel? The second part should deal with his deepest low. What betrayals and freak incidents contribute to this precipitous fall? In summation, discuss what Nick learns from these events.

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