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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 the narrator call "Astral sperm and heavenly urine"?

2. What is noted about Granero's body at the end of Chapter 11?

3. What does Sir Edmond tell Simone is a vile tradition of bullfighting?

4. What is one of the causes for the trio's irritation at the bullfight?

5. What sport does Simone grow to love?

Short Essay Questions

1. What tradition does Sir Edmond tell Simone of, and what is her response?

2. Based on the narrator's claims at the end of Chapter 6, what does the episode with eggs indicate about the future of the characters?

3. Explain why Simone and the narrator do not speak of eggs, or of any other portion of their unusual sexual relationship.

4. Explain the narrator's actions as the couple stops the first time on their journey home from the sanitarium in Chapter 5.

5. Describe what Simone begins enjoying doing with eggs at the beginning of Chapter 6.

6. Describe the sexual fantasy of Simone and the narrator about Marcelle in Chapter 6.

7. What are the three things that fascinate Simone about bullfights?

8. In Chapter 6, the author purposefully italicizes the words "wide eyes" and "white eggs". What is the significance of this?

9. What happens to Marcelle in Chapter 8, and why?

10. Explain how Simone and the narrator travel to Spain undetected.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

There is a theme used throughout the novel of the point at which things meet, such as the fine point between life and death, as experienced by the priest as he orgasms at the moment of death. What are other topics that are explored in this same way? How is this line used in the novel? What is the goal of the author in exploring these lines?

Essay Topic 2

Nature plays a large part in this story, as the narrator often uses the nature surrounding the characters to explain changes in their senses, and to explain some of their behaviors. List at least two examples of when nature is used as a part of the storyline. What were the characters doing? How did nature play a part? What was the situation? What was the end result? How did nature affect the behaviors or actions of the characters?

Essay Topic 3

The narrator notes in the novel that people fear lewd behaviors because they have a secret desire to participate in them. Do you believe this is true? Why or why not? Does this statement explain the behaviors of the characters in the novel? Why or why not? If so, why are they willing to give in to such behaviors when other are not? If not, what is the real reason behind their activities?

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