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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 Renton give Tommy at the end of Winter in West Granton?

2. What is Renton's parent's attitude toward Sick Boy?

3. Who does Matty's brother want to kill in Memories of Matty?

4. Which girl is Renton chatting up at the beginning of There Is a Light That Never Goes Out?

5. Which character below is not involved in Begbie's deal in Station to Station?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Davie take revenge on Alan Venters in Bad Blood?

2. How does Kelly take revenge on some business men in Eating Out?

3. How does the morning of There Is a Light That Never Goes Out end?

4. What uncharacteristic moment occurs with Renton in Straight Dilemmas No. 1?

5. How does Renton end up in an all-night porno theater in London Crawling?

6. Why does Renton feel bad at the end of The Elusive Mr. Hunt?

7. In Bad Blood, how does Alan Venters and Davie's relationship develop?

8. What does Renton find at Johnny Swan's in A Leg-Over Situation?

9. Describe Sick Boy's escapade in Deid Dugs.

10. Describe the interchange Renton has with an old schoolmate at the end of this chapter.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay about the other drugs of the novel besides heroin. While heroin is presented as a life choice unto itself, what other stimulants do characters choose? How do Tommy, Begbie, and Billy add spice to their mundane lives? Discuss how Welsh presents these activities and substances, and whether he presents them as more or less dangerous than smack?

Essay Topic 2

The lingering fear of the heroin culture of Trainspotting is HIV/AIDS. Write an essay discussing the way AIDS affects the lives of three characters in the novel. How does each character contract the syndrome? Does he maintain his health? Is he alive at the end of the novel? Discuss the methods this character uses to cope with AIDS.

Part 1) Davie

Part 2) Tommy

Part 3) Matty

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay about women in Trainspotting. Choose three women and discuss their place in the coterie of junkies and loser who comprise the center of the novel. How do they become attached to the group? Are they repelled by the drug-use or part of it? What do they lose within the group and what do they gain? Are any of them particularly well-defined as individuals?

(see the answer keys)

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