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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. When Henry is writing about Claude, of whom is he really thinking?

2. Who asks Sylvester if he can stay with him until he goes to bed?

3. Why is Serge happy to meet Henry?

4. What price is extracted from Henry for his meals at the Cronstadts?

5. What is ironic about Henry's getting money from Peckover?

Short Essay Questions

1. What importance does Henry place on both the past and the future?

2. What does Elsa say bout the Englishman upstairs playing Bach?

3. What is the scene at the beginning of the novel and how does it set up the condition Henry is in while in Paris?

4. What does Henry say about his escape from Serge?

5. How does Henry describe the book on which he is working?

6. How does Henry see the American women at the Cafe de la Paix or the Ritz Bar?

7. What had Henry hoped for when he met Serge?

8. What lie does Henry tell the Cronstadts when they invite him to join their meal?

9. Why is Henry so generous with his praise of the prostitute Germaine?

10. How does Henry define health that he equates with optimism?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Henry cannot show Mona the Paris he is so enamored of because his love of the city is all bound up in his suffering. Write an essay about the difference in visiting a place as a tourist and really knowing the place from having lived there.

Essay Topic 2

In American lore, the idea of staying somewhere that George Washington once slept has a kind of romantic appeal. In the TROPIC OF CANCER, Van Norden's dumpy hotel is made appealing by the hint that Maupassant once lived there. Henry goes to see the room where Strindberg once stayed. Write an essay about a place you would like to visit because some person you admire once stayed or lived there.

Essay Topic 3

Henry discovers Papini and is impressed with his writing. Do some research on Papini and explain what it is about him that Miller so admired. Be sure to mention the slight difference in what Papini said about the artist needing to be alone and what Henry says about the same subject.

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This section contains 603 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample