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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 was Van wearing the first time she glimpsed him, before they met?

2. How does Van act toward Ada in Chapter 32?

3. Who does Van think is the most obvious choice that might have given him the note?

4. What happens to the weather during Demon's dinner with Marina, Van, and Ada?

5. What does Marina have in her screwdrivers instead of orange juice?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Ada have to do before she can go off and meet Van in private in Chapter 20?

2. How does Van first see Ada?

3. How does Aqua kill herself?

4. What are the circumstances of Marina's first romantic liaison with Demon?

5. How does Van feel about Cordula?

6. How does young Van feel about Ada?

7. What does Van do, when Ada suggests he spank Lucette?

8. What does Marina chastise Van for, after calling him into her room?

9. What reason does Van give Marina for leaving?

10. What causes Lucette to follow Ada and Van around in Chapter 34?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the novel's portrayal of men and women.

1) How are men and women's experience of sexuality different in the novel? How are they treated differently by society?

2) What does success mean for men and women in the novel? How is it different because of gender?

3) What are men and women's intellectual pursuits in the novel? How are they different because of gender?

Essay Topic 2

As Van's memoir, the novel deals with memory. It also deals with memory through Van's discussion of time and its meaning. Discuss time and memory in the novel.

1) How is the story of Van and Ada's childhood changed by memory? What significance is there to the fact that the children's diaries were destroyed, forcing them to recreate the events from memory?

2) What role does memory plan in Van and Ada's feelings about each other why they are separated?

3) How does time affect the characters? How does Van's discussion of time relate to the characters' experiences?

Essay Topic 3

Nabokov is known for wordplay, and part of this is using significant names or manipulating names. Discuss the names of characters and places in the novel.

1) What meanings are put onto the characters' names by their association with other words? For example, what do Demon, Aqua, and Marina's names mean? What meanings are put on "Ada" and "Van"?

2) Discuss the name of Ardis Hall and what meanings and associations it has in the novel.

3) How do characters' names change in different contexts? What do these name changes signify?

(see the answer keys)

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