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 is Jared's nearly inaudible reply when Sebastian tells him that he has "immense musical talent" (197)?

2. What is the name of the song Jared tries to listen to at least once a day?

3. What is revealed as the real reason for Buckminster Fuller's ejection from Harvard?

4. What has Nana been drinking when Sebastian returns from the Whitcombs' house and finds her on the front lawn?

5. Why does Sebastian refrain from putting the needle onto the record after he leaves Meredith's bed?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the one thing Meredith cites as the quality of Sebastian's that makes him different and is the thing she really likes about him?

2. What is Sebastian's reaction to the realization that Nana has moved on with completing the geoscope project in his absence?

3. What does Sebastian learn as a result of having to hide beneath Meredith's bed during her conversation with Janice?

4. What does Sebastian discover about the origin of the word punk, and how does he apply the knowledge to his own band?

5. For what task does Sebastian tell Meredith that he requires her help?

6. What is the significance of Meredith thinking Sebastian is Jared at her door and telling him to get away from the door and that she is fine?

7. What does Jared retrieve from the closet once he sees how worried Sebastian is about Nana the day he has been kicked out of Nana's house?

8. What is the process of sorting according to Buckminster Fuller's philosophy?

9. What does Jared reveal to Sebastian during the second youth group meeting as the real reason he has been struck ill?

10. To whom does Sebastian hear Janice talking on the phone when he gets back to the Whitcombs' house after he and Meredith finish hanging gig posters?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the carnivalesque nature of the novel's climax and explain how its qualities of the carnivalesque mesh with the novel's inherent themes.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the significance of the novel's inclusion of the record store as a brief, yet meaningful and symbolic setting.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the novel's theme depicting health problems as a means of self-discovery.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,086 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample