View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Dorothy come to believe about Van?

2. To whom does Van send the flowers he buys while waiting for Ada?

3. What does Ada think of Van's change in weight?

4. What does the newspaper Van's father is reading at the airport say?

5. What does Van invite Lucette to do?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Van give to Lucette in exchange for the name of the man who wants to marry her?

2. How does Van respond to Ada's arrival?

3. How does Van characterize to Greg his relationship with Ada?

4. What does Van plan to do in the duel?

5. What plan does Lucette propose to Van?

6. How does Demon discover that Van is living with Ada?

7. What were the reviews of Van's first book like?

8. What does Van write about in his unsent letter to Ada?

9. How did Percy de Prey die?

10. How does Van gain the post of Rattner Chair of Philosophy at University of Kingston?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the novel's portrayal of men and women.

1) How are men and women's experience of sexuality different in the novel? How are they treated differently by society?

2) What does success mean for men and women in the novel? How is it different because of gender?

3) What are men and women's intellectual pursuits in the novel? How are they different because of gender?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss sexuality in the novel.

1) How and why is sexuality related to youth in the novel? How does sexuality change with age?

2) How does sexuality relate to love and affection in the novel? What do the characters expect from sex, and what does sex actually provide?

3) What role does sexual decadence, especially represented by the Villa Venus brothels, play in the novel?

Essay Topic 3

Nabokov is known for wordplay, and part of this is using significant names or manipulating names. Discuss the names of characters and places in the novel.

1) What meanings are put onto the characters' names by their association with other words? For example, what do Demon, Aqua, and Marina's names mean? What meanings are put on "Ada" and "Van"?

2) Discuss the name of Ardis Hall and what meanings and associations it has in the novel.

3) How do characters' names change in different contexts? What do these name changes signify?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 765 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample