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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. Why did Philip quit college?

2. What reason does Philip give his father for needing money?

3. Who arrives unexpectedly in Autun?

4. What does Cristina tell the narrator he should be?

5. What is the narrator's destination city?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are the narrator's thoughts about his life of solitude when viewed against Philip and Anne-Marie's affair?

2. What is the nature of the narrator's documentation project in Chapter 20?

3. How does the author literally and figuratively use foreshadowing of Philip's death in the fortune teller scenario?

4. Who are the Jobses and why do the narrator and Philip spend time with them?

5. Even though he is primarily an observer, what other elements of the narrator's psyche enter into the development of his stories?

6. Where does the narrator plan to stay while in Autun?

7. Describe how Philip and Anne-Marie's relationship begins to alter and what the basis for the transition is.

8. How can the narrator be characterized as observant?

9. Who is Claude Picquet and what are the narrator's thoughts about her?

10. What is the state of Billy and Cristina's marriage when the narrator returns to Paris to visit them?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The author uses several instances of flashbacks in the story. Explain what a flashback is and cite at least two making sure to explain what makes each a flashback.

Essay Topic 2

Salter uses more than one instance of irony in the book. Cite at least two examples you can identify in the novel and note why they are examples of irony.

Essay Topic 3

Create a brief character study of Anne-Marie. What does she look like? What are her positive personality traits? What are some of her negative characteristics? What are her hopes and fears? What motivates her--if anything--at this point in her life?

(see the answer keys)

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