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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. Grady discovers in Chapter 14 that James has stolen a jacket that formerly belonged to whom?

2. What is the name of the publishing house waiting for Grady to finish writing his latest novel?

3. The brothers featured at the center of the novel Wonder Boys reside in which state?

4. What name do the locals call Carl Franklin's Hi-Hat?

5. When Chapter 3 begins, Grady is waiting for Emily to emerge from an advertising agency. Who is Emily?

Short Essay Questions

1. What two roles does Walter play in Grady's life and why?

2. How does Grady feel about Hannah and how does act on these feelings?

3. For how long has Grady been working on the novel Wonder Boys by the time the novel opens in Chapter 1?

4. What does Grady see as the main difficulty he is having with completing his fourth novel Wonder Boys?

5. Who was the first "real writer" (3) Grady ever knew and what was his eventual fate?

6. Who is Q?

7. What were the circumstances of Grady's parents' deaths?

8. How does Doctor Dee end up dead by the end of Chapter 8?

9. Though Grady cannot remember the night of his father's suicide, he remembers what other event vividly from around that time?

10. What is the symbolism of the lock on Walter's closet door?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss Chabon's purpose for juxtaposing at least two different locations in a particular way within the text of Wonder Boys.

Essay Topic 2

Perform a biographical criticism of Wonder Boys by researching Chabon's life and work. Be sure to create a strong and specific claim focused on this particular book and then support that claim with quotes from the book and from your research of Chabon.

Essay Topic 3

Analyze the ways in which the themes of adaptability and resignation appear within Chabon’s novel Wonder Boys. What message is Chabon sending about these two themes over the course of the narrative?

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