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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 Johannes tell Nella that no one can really do with his wealth?

2. What is Marin's reply when Nella asks what would happen if Agnes and Frans found out about Johannes's homosexuality?

3. What object does Marin say that her family has that Nella's family does not, even though Nella's family has an "ancient pedigree" (12)?

4. What is Marin's reply when Nella asks about Bergen, Norway?

5. How does Nella go about contacting the miniaturist to request an order?

Short Essay Questions

1. How do Nella's expectations of Marin's reaction differ from Marin's real reaction when Nella tells her about Johannes's homosexuality?

2. How does Marin hurt Nella physically and why?

3. What does Nella mean when she opines that "home is nowhere" (114) for her now?

4. What is the first disagreement between Nella and Marin, and who wins it?

5. What does Nella mean when she muses that Marin and Johannes are obsessed with "souls and purses" (27)?

6. For what reason does Marin always insist on taking the Brandt household's dogs to church?

7. For what reason does Nella decide to visit Johannes at his work?

8. How do Marin's and Nella's views of Nella's situation in the Brandt household differ?

9. What is the significance of Nella's lute performance during the Meermans' visit?

10. What does Nella's parakeet Peebo symbolize?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is the function of Marin's character within the novel? Discuss the characterization methods used by the author in depicting Marin and include in your discussion the reasons that the author portrays her in these particular ways.

Essay Topic 2

Sensory details are used frequently by the author in order to create vivid pictures of Nella's world in Seventeenth-Century Holland. Choose three scenes in which sensory details are heavily used and discuss how the sensory details used by the author set a particular mood for each of the three scenes.

Essay Topic 3

Choose three symbols used by the author to transmit a particular thematic message. Discuss the author's purpose in depicting each object within the narrative.

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