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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 offer does Billy make to the narrator?

2. What does the narrator spend most of his time doing these days?

3. The narrator believes that being alone is superior to ________________.

4. Who are the friends of the narrator's who own the house?

5. How does Philip feel about Anne-Marie in Chapter 12?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the narrator spend his first full day in Autun?

2. What does the narrator learn about Philip and about himself as he gets to know him?

3. What is ironic about Philip's situation?

4. What information does the narrator find in Philip's diaries?

5. What is Cristina's view on photography and objectivity?

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

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

8. Why is the narrator leaving one city and what is his destination as the novel begins?

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

10. How does the narrator's interaction with the Wheatlands in Paris force him to think about his life of solitude?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe the overall setting for the novel. Why does Salter use the setting he does? What is the time period of the story? How important is the time period to the attitudes and issues of the characters?

Essay Topic 2

Explain the concept of loneliness as it exhibits in the story. Which of the characters are lonely? Are they all lonely in some way? Explain the loneliness and the methods and attempts to overcome it.

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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