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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. The narrator sets Lou up with ____________________.

2. The narrator's relationship with Sean develops during the time that both John F. Kennedy and ______________ died.

3. What shocking news does the narrator's sister tell him during her visit?

4. What habit does the narrator have that makes Maria angry?

5. What do the narrator's parents consider a normal life for their son?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who is Lou and how does the narrator meet him?

2. How did the poverty-stricken lives of Betts and Buddy mirror the social deprivation during the times they lived through?

3. Who is Sean and how did the narrator meet him?

4. How does the relationship between Maria and the narrator change when she moves to New York?

5. What is significant about the energy created among the men after the group sexual encounter in the subway restroom

6. How can Sean's "subhuman" comment be viewed in another context regarding the narrator's letting go of the shame he used to have for his behavior and desires?

7. What is the narrator's life like after he moves to New York?

8. What is the significance of the narrator's sister's visit and her revelation of being a lesbian?

9. How does shame get pushed aside in the events leading up to, and after, the Stonewall Inn raids?

10. What does the narrator experience for the first time after a sexual encounter in a subway restroom that he has never experienced before?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Explain the significance of the novel's title--"The Beautiful Room is Empty". Why did White choose this title? Is there an understood message in the title? Is there another title you can suggest that might be more appropriate?

Essay Topic 2

The author uses more than one iteration on the theme of the search for love. Identify at least two themes about love in the book. Then cite an example to support each theme you name.

Essay Topic 3

Project into the future ten years after the end of the novel and write a brief synopsis for the lives of the narrator and three other characters. Be sure to incorporate personal, political and cultural impacts on the characters' lives.

(see the answer keys)

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