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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 Yvonne tell the consul her hopes for them for the future are?

2. How has the consul reacted to Yvonne's childhood dreams?

3. What kinds of people are on the bus that Yvonne, Hugh, and the consul take together?

4. As the storm approaches, what does Yvonne claim she would rather do than find her estranged husband?

5. What makes Yvonne fall (the first time) while searching for the consul in the storm?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why do the police accuse the consul of being a communist?

2. What does Laruelle point out to the consul about why his lack of excitement about Yvonne's return is ironic?

3. What does Yvonne see the bull as a symbol of?

4. What do Laruelle and Hugh have in common from their childhoods?

5. What does Yvonne imagine has burned down as she sees the storm approaching?

6. As he reflects on his life at the hotel, what does the consul think about his happiness?

7. Why does the consul want the sun to stand still after the bus ride he takes with Yvonne and Hugh?

8. What does Yvonne experience as she falls/dying?

9. How does Yvonne ultimately die?

10. What does the consul's desire for the sun not to set foreshadow?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss at least three ways that Lowry's placement of the novel in a foreign country (foreign to the consul, that is) has an impact on the novel.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the role of women in "Under the Volcano" and at least three literary devices Lowry uses when presenting female characters in the novel.

Essay Topic 3

List three ways that the story of the German soldiers' deaths and the consul's role in them impact the reader's view of the consul as a character before he actually arrives in "Under the Volcano."

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 727 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample