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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. Who is Mariequita?

2. Where does Edna see Robert?

3. What does Madame Ratignolle tell Edna when Edna returns?

4. Who saw Robert before he left?

5. Where does Edna take her father when he visits?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the Pontellier family.

2. Describe one of Edna's childhood crushes.

3. What happens when the cage door is left open by accident one day?

4. What is Edna's life like in New Orleans?

5. What happens between Robert and Edna by the end of Chapter 35?

6. What story does Edna tell and how does she explain knowing of the story?

7. What analogy does Edna think of from her childhood?

8. How does Léonce Pontellier treat his sunburned wife?

9. What does Madame Ratignolle ask of Edna and what does she think of the pigeon house?

10. How does the creature survive and how does it see?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Many authors write numerous works of fiction that differ in plot and detail, but which often treat the same ideas over and over. Discuss the following:

1. What is one theme/idea that exists in at least three of Chopin's works in this collection? Compare and contrast how the theme is treated among the three pieces.

2. Compare/contrast two of Chopin's short stories for their similarities and differences. Does Chopin seem more sympathetic towards women or men? Or is there any pattern? Do you think Chopin endorses the cultural expectations of the day? why or why not.

3. Most of Chopin's works are short stories and two short novels (or novelettes). Why do you think Chopin chooses to write in the short story genre? Compare/contrast the challenges of writing a longer novel versus a short story. Which would you prefer to read? Write? Why?

Essay Topic 2

Chopin's life may have greatly informed her writing. Discuss the following:

1. Research Kate Chopin and write a 2-3 informative essay about her life.

2. Choose one theme that occurs throughout most of Chopin's work and discuss it in relation to what you learned in your research about Chopin.

3. Can an author write an entirely objective piece of fiction without her/his own experiences influencing the work? Why or why not (in your opinion).

Essay Topic 3

Certainly The Awakening and also most of Chopin's other short stories in this volume deal with the subject of gender. Discuss the following:

1. Define the term "gender."

2. Does gender only refer to whether a person is male or female? Is gender easy to identify?

3. Discuss the Creole cultural definitions of gender during the era of The Awakening and the expectations for each gender. Do any of those expectations exist today?

4. Discuss two short stories in which gender seems to be a theme. How is the theme treated? Would you like to live in a culture that has those expectations for men and women?

5. Are women the only ones harmed by gender-based expectations? Why or why not?

(see the answer keys)

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