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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. Who speaks with Mitch Goodman at the Justice Department in Chapter 4?

2. Which social or literary figure calls Mailer in Chapter 2?

3. Whose "dwarf alter ego" did Mailer claim to be at the Ambassador speech, according to Macdonald in Chapter 3?

4. Which of the following is not something Mailer is mentioned doing during his emceeing of Chapter 5?

5. What is significant about the way Lowell recites his poetry in Chapter 6?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is Mailer received after Lowell in Chapter 6?

2. What happens once the group arrives at the Justice Department in Chapter 4?

3. What appraisal of Robert Lowell does Mailer make in en route to the Department of Justice in Chapter 3?

4. How is Robert Lowell received by the audience?

5. What rationalization does Mailer give for taking his book from the hostess's house in Chapter 5?

6. What does Mailer find at the church in Chapter 3?

7. Why is Mailer late to emcee the event in Chapter 5?

8. What metaphor does Mailer use in Chapter 5 to describe the Vietnam controvery in America and who takes what sides?

9. What reasoning does Mailer give for placing himself at the center of the narrative of the novel in Chapter 1?

10. How do Ed de Grazia and Mailer scuffle in Chapter 5?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Near the end of the second book, Mailer enumerates the reasons why some people oppose the war in Vietnam. Write an essay about this logic, focusing on three of the groups he mentions. Do you think their reasoning in sound? What organizations and individuals represent this group in the narrative? Are there modern parallels to this group in today's society?

Part 1) Those who want Asia and, eventually, America to turn Communist.

Part 2) Those who are pacifists.

Part 3) Those who think the war is unjust.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay about the consistent comparison of the marchers in the novel to a conventional army. Begin your discussion of this likening of two armies by focusing on Mailer's connection of the march to his tour of duty in World War II. What are the similarities he mentions? Where is the comparable glory and agony experienced by both groups? How do the marchers have to prove their courage and willingness to sacrifice for comrades? How does this affect the wording used in describing them?

Essay Topic 3

Norman Mailer is a large, robust, arrogant personality. His placement at the center of most of the novel creates a powerful presence the reader must contend with. Write an essay about the divergent components of Mailer's personality. Begin by discussing his engorged id. How does Mailer revel in excess int he early passages of the novel? What is he trying to achieve? In the second half of the essay, discuss the emerging of Mailer's better angels. How does this reflect another side to Mailer, one that wants to show respect and graciousness? How is the novel as a whole a reflection of this desire?

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