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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 is supposed to be such a common sight that office workers don't comment about it?

2. Howie's fifth major advance has to do with _____.

3. Howie connected learning how to tie shoes with a couplet by _____.

4. Howie only likes to use straws for _________.

5. Who is Howie sending a memo to right before going to lunch?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Howie mean by "the rule of nostalgia"?

2. What observations does Howie make about straws while he was at Papa Gino's?

3. What point is Howie trying to make in his footnote about doorknobs?

4. What is awkward about Howie trying to sign the poster Tina has gotten for Ray the janitor?

5. What are Howie's observations about shoes and feet at work?

6. How does "The Mezzanine" begin?

7. What were the "systems of local transport" that Howie liked as a child?

8. What compelling realization does Howie remember when driving behind a garbage truck when he is thirty?

9. What thoughts about bread does Howie have while riding the subway?

10. What does Howie notice about his shoes as he reties them in Chapter 4?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Do you agree with Howie's premise that conceiving of the important can be accomplished by means of conceiving of the trivial. Is there a deeper profundity to his trivial thoughts?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the purpose of the character L. Why does she never actually physically appears in the narrative? How does she help create the roundness of Howie's character?

Essay Topic 3

Has Baker achieved a literary work of profound complexity or is "The Mezzanine" a trivial novel, completely lacking in plot? Explain your view based on evidence in the novel.

(see the answer keys)

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