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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 does RECs stand for?

2. At the end of Chapter 9, what does the author question?

3. In Chapter 9, why does the author single out the year 1985?

4. In Chapter 13, what part of the character's body is not affected by the sweat attacks?

5. What name does the author give himself in Chapter 9?

Short Essay Questions

1. How do the characters in Chapter 18 react to Desk Names?

2. Why do people dislike the boy in Chapter 5?

3. While describing Stecyk in Chapter 12, what does the narrator comment on about the boy's future?

4. In the beginning of this novel, how does Claude feel about his job?

5. How does Stecyk change from Chapter 12 to Chapter 14?

6. What point does the author make about the "information society" in Chapter 9?

7. How do the girl and her mother get away in Chapter 8?

8. How is Claude's psychic ability described in Chapter 15?

9. In Chapter 13, why does the main character pay attention to the way he sits?

10. Why does the author claim this novel is memoir in Chapter 9?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is the effect of the loosely connected characters of "The Pale King" on the development of the plot? What is the relationship between plot and characterization?

Essay Topic 2

Examine the use of dialogue vs the use of description. Look at how each is used in the novel and what makes these uses effective or ineffective.

Essay Topic 3

How do characters remain the same as they age? How do they change? Compare and contrast the characters who change vs. those who remain the same. What message does this deliver about childhood and the transition into adulthood?

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