SparkNotes: Seize the Day: Quiz

Where is Tommy living when the book opens?

(A) In his father's apartment

(B) With Dr. Tamkin

(C) In the Hotel Gloriana

(D) With his wife, Margaret

How old is Tommy Wilhelm?

(A) Forty-Four

(B) The book does not disclose

(C) In his sixties, at the end of his life

(D) The book does not disclose exactly, claiming only that he is "middle-aged"

Who does Tommy entrust with the last of his money?

(A) His father

(B) Margaret

(C) Mr. Perls

(D) Dr. Tamkin

From where did Tommy graduate college?

(A) Penn State

(B) He did not graduate college

(C) University of Minnesota

(D) New York University

What does Dr. Adler call his son?

(A) "My son"

(B) Wilky

(C) Tommy

(D) Dr. Wilhelm

What does Tommy do with his cigarettes when he has finished smoking them?

(A) He takes them out and puts the butts in his pocket

(B) He always offers the last of each cigarette to his father

(C) He does not smoke

(D) He throws them into the water

What is Tommy's true name?

(A) Tommy Wilhelm

(B) Tommy Tamkin

(C) Wilhelm Tamkin

(D) Wilhelm Adler

What is Dr. Adler's response when Tommy asks his father the year of his mother's death?

(A) He says 1931

(B) He says 1932

(C) He gives the wrong answer

(D) All of the above

Why is Tommy in need of money?

(A) He has spent in all in Hollywood, trying to be an actor

(B) He has given it all to his father

(C) He has recently lost his job and has a wife and two children

(D) He has spent it all on his mistress, Olive

Why is Tommy unable to marry Olive?

(A) He is no longer in love with her

(B) His children do not want him to

(C) Olive never loved him and was only using him

(D) His wife will not grant him a divorce

How does Tommy Feel about New York?

(A) He loves it because he loves all big cities

(B) He is indifferent to it

(C) He has become unaccustomed to it and misses the country

(D) He feels at home

What does Tommy always drink in the morning?

(A) Orange juice, upon the advice of his father

(B) Coffee, against Dr. Adler's will

(C) Coca-cola

(D) Tea

What is Wilhelm's appearance like?

(A) He is a bit dirty and untidy

(B) He is fastidious about his appearance

(C) He always carries a dapper cane

(D) He is very clean

What does Wilhelm do after Mr. Perls leaves the table?

(A) He feels he should have given Mr. Perls more of a chance

(B) He feels sorry for Mr. Perls

(C) He leaves right after Mr. Perls leaves

(D) He eats and eats

What does Tommy's father suggest that Tommy do?

(A) Go to the baths

(B) Play the stock market

(C) Give him his bill for the hotel

(D) Apologize to Mr. Perls

Why does Philipa want to borrow money from Dr. Adler?

(A) She wants to rent a gallery for a painting exhibition

(B) She wants to invest in the commodities market

(C) She wants to help her brother

(D) She needs it to help her husband who has just lost his job

Who is Philipa?

(A) Catherine

(B) Wilhelm's sister

(C) Dr. Adler's daughter

(D) All of the above

Who is Scissors?

(A) Scissors is Tommy's nickname for Olive

(B) Scissors is Tommy's dog

(C) Scissors is Dr. Adler's dog

(D) Scissors is what Dr. Tamkin calls Tommy

What dramatic action does Wilhelm commit at breakfast that angers his father?

(A) He begins to choke himself

(B) Tommy tells his father that he hates him

(C) He notifies his father of his recent divorce

(D) He punches father across the table

What does Wilhelm do after he signs to power of attorney over to Dr. Tamkin?

(A) He begins to cry

(B) He returns to the office where the transaction was completed in order to make sure exactly what the "power of attorney" meant

(C) He explains to Dr. Tamkin how much trust he has in him and the two proceed to have one of the few lucid moments in the book

(D) He tells his father

What does Tommy think of Dr.Tamkin throughout the novel?

(A) He hates him

(B) He likes him very much

(C) He goes back and forth between trust and mistrust

(D) He thinks he is the greatest "healer" he has ever met

Who is the poem Dr. Tamkin wrote about?

(A) It is about Dr. Tamkin himself

(B) It is about Tommy

(C) It is about Dr. Adler

(D) It is about Margaret, Wilhelm's wife

What did Tommy's grandfather call him when he was younger?

(A) Wilky

(B) Hippopotamus

(C) Little Tommy

(D) Velvel

What happens to Tommy at the market?

(A) Nothing

(B) He buys carrots for his father

(C) He loses all of his money

(D) His money triples thanks to Dr. Tamkin's expertise

What does Wilhelm respond when Tamkin asks him if he loves his father?

(A) He says he does not love him

(B) He says that "of course" he loves him

(C) He says that he "loathes" him

(D) He says he loved his mother more

Where does Tommy end up at the end of the novella?

(A) At his father's death bed

(B) Crying on Dr. Tamkin's shoulder

(C) At the funeral of a stranger