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. Who do Claude and Emma discover belongs to the Communist Party?

2. Whom does Catherine confide in before she leaves to elope?

3. On the ride home from the dance, what does Claude ask Catherine?

4. How old is Claude Rawlings at the beginning of the novel?

5. What is Claude's physique as a young boy?

Short Essay Questions

1. How do Mr. and Mrs. Powers treat Claude?

2. What do we learn about Emma from her involvement with the secret customers she transports in the middle of the night?

3. How does Aldo Frescobaldi's relationship with Claude affect Claude?

4. What is the parallel between the story line of the movie Claude sees called A Place in the Sun and Claude's life?

5. What is Claude's reaction to the growing relationship between his mother and Al Johnson?

6. What generalization can be made about the Fisk family's approach to fads or trends?

7. Summarize the pivotal events which occur in Claude's life from the time Mr. Fredericks asks Claude to play at a music festival with him to the time he meets Mr. Larkin, who is on a college scholarship committee.

8. Why does Mr. Weisfeld send Claude to various piano instructors?

9. Why is Claude's friendship with Ivan Andrews an important relationship?

10. Why is Claude's intimate encounter with Eva, a violinist at the music festival, important to Claude, especially in terms of Catherine Fisk?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How do the setting, characterization, and point of view influence the theme of the individual vs. society in Body and Soul?

Essay Topic 2

Which part of Body and Soul comes alive for you. That is, in which part do you feel that what is happening to the characters is vicariously happening to you? Why? How does the author do this? Are you immediately drawn into the story, or does it take a while? Why? Does the book intrigue, amuse, disturb, alienate, or irritate you? Why?

Essay Topic 3

Choose a situation in the story in which Claude acted in a way you disagree with. Describe the situation. Why does Claude act this way? What are the consequences of his actions? Why do you disagree with Claude's reaction to the situation? How would you have reacted? Why?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 954 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample