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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. From whose point-of-view is Inner Shitty?

2. What does Renton promise Spud at the end of this chapter?

3. Which two characters hit on the girls in this chapter?

4. In Grieving and Mourning in Port Sunshine, when does the group decide they will talk to Fiona?

5. What does Renton almost do by mistake in his interview in Speedy Recruitment?

Short Essay Questions

1. What sadistic joke does Johnny Swan play in The Skag Boys?

2. How is Spud's life since coming off heroin?

3. What happens to the communal pot in Grieving and Mourning in Port Sunshine?

4. How is Begbie's home-life portrayed at the beginning of Inner Shitty?

5. What does Renton slowly realize has happened at the beginning of It Goes Without Saying?

6. How does Tommy fall into the heroin lifestyle in Cock Problems?

7. Describe the activities of the gang in Grieving and Mourning in Port Sunshine.

8. How does Renton play his interviewer in Speedy Recruitment?

9. How does Sick Boy dictate activities in The Skag Boys?

10. What do all of the Junk Dilemmas have in common?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Undoubtedly, the two most unappealing characters of Trainspotting are Begbie and Sick Boy> Write an essay about these characters. Why are they so despicable? What goal do they have and what tactics do they use to try to achieve them? How do these two characters represent dual sides of sin, complementing each other in their ill deals and transgressions?

Essay Topic 2

Trainspotting is a novel that exists resolutely in the nitty-gritty of working-class squalor. As such, Welsh regularly employs filthy and scatological imagery. Write an essay about three such instances. What is the nature of the filth portrayed? How does it relate to the narrative and themes of the novel? Is it presented straight or with humor, and do you think it is necessary or effective?

Part 1) The First Day of the Edinburgh Festival

Part 2) Traditional English Breakfast

Part 3) Eating Out

Essay Topic 3

In his quest for sobriety, Renton faces a number of obstacles, mostly of his own creation. In an essay, chart Renton's character arc in the novel. How does he begin the novel, and how does he end it? What tragedies and challenges meet him over the course of the narrative? What losses does he suffer, and what does he learn from this suffering?

(see the answer keys)

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