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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why does Quinn decide not to continue following the second Stillman and to instead turn around and follow the first?
(a) He began to doubt that Stillman would be so elegant.
(b) He lost sight of the second Stillman.
(c) He was following the second man out of spite.
(d) He flipped a coin.

2. Whom is Auster expecting when he opens the door to Quinn?
(a) The landlord.
(b) The repairman.
(c) His daughter.
(d) His wife.

3. According to Stillman's book, how many years elapsed between the Flood and the Tower of Babel?
(a) 560 years.
(b) 170 years.
(c) 340 years.
(d) 220 years.

4. Which historical figure was faced with the challenge of standing an egg on its end?
(a) Lincoln.
(b) Columbus.
(c) Napoleon.
(d) Washington.

5. What is the title of Quinn's book of poetry?
(a) The Business of Poetry.
(b) Unfinished Business.
(c) Risky Business.
(d) Business Verses.

Short Answer Questions

1. Where is Quinn the second time the telephone rings?

2. Who is the author of The New Babel?

3. Where does the first face-to-face meeting between Quinn and Stillman take place?

4. On what condition does Quinn agree to continue following Stillman after thirteen days of repetitive action, per his telephone consultation with Virginia Stillman?

5. Where does Quinn go at the beginning of Chapter 13?

Short Essay Questions

1. In what year did Stillman lock up his son? Why is this significant?

2. In Chapter 11, what does Quinn write about in the red notebook? According to his observations, what is the social hierarchy of the vagabond population like?

3. What job does Virginia Stillman hire Auster to do? How does she expect him to start?

4. What is Stillman's theory about having children? What is the correlation between having children and knowledge?

5. What is the message spelled out by the letters of the maps in Chapter 8? What does this message reveal to Quinn about Stillman?

6. In the telephone calls in Chapter 1, with whom is Quinn confused? What is the nature of this person's work?

7. While Quinn is living in the alleyway in Chapter 12, what is his sleep schedule like? How is he able to measure the amount of time he has been sleeping?

8. What is the first thing that Quinn writes in the red notebook? Why is this significant?

9. Why did Stillman invent the persona of Henry Dark? What significance does this name have?

10. What is Stillman's project as he explains it to Quinn in Chapter 9? Why is this work necessary?

(see the answer keys)

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