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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. In what language does Van write letters to his mother?

2. In 1888, when Van visits Ardis Hall, what gift does he carry in his pocket?

3. In what Manhattan landmark building did Dan propose to Marina in 1871?

4. After Van returns from washing his hands, where does he find Ada?

5. Who made up the games that Ana describes in Chapter 8?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Van feel about Marina?

2. How does Aqua kill herself?

3. What becomes of Ada's old governess?

4. What does Blanche look like as she is ready to leave?

5. How does Marina describe Jews to her daughter?

6. What did Ada do when Dr. Krolik died?

7. How does Ada act when she tells stories at the table?

8. What are the rules of marriage among relatives that Van and Ada discuss?

9. How does Dick cheat at cards, and how does Van best him?

10. What do Demon think of Marina's career as an actress?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss madness in the novel.

1) What is Aqua's madness in the novel? Why does she go from sanitarium to sanitarium, and why does she kill herself?

2) What types of madness do Van's patients display? Why do mad patients see visions of Terra in the novel?

Essay Topic 2

The novel is a memoir, narrated by Van with input from Ada, and written in the third person with occasional first-person interludes. Discuss point of view in the novel.

1) Why does Van write his memoir mainly in the third person? What does this say about Van's perception of himself through time and his memories?

2) At what points does Van interrupt the narrative in the first person? What do these first person sections add to the novel? Why are they there?

3) What does Ada add to the novel? Where is her voice present?

Essay Topic 3

The novel follows Van and Ada from their youth through their old age. Discuss aging in the novel.

1) How does Van change throughout his life? Are his physical changes separable from his mental and emotional changes?

2) How do the characters' values and priorities change over time? What is important to them in their youth and as they grow older?

3) How do the characters' perceptions of the world around them and of their own relationship change as they age?

4) What meaning does the approach of death have for Van and Ada?

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