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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 does Phillip Rack come upstairs, interrupting Ada and Van?

2. What gymnastic trick does Van help Lucette do?

3. Where does Van hear Ada say "chort" or "devil"?

4. What stage name does Van perform under?

5. What is Ada's hair like?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the encounter between Blanche and Van.

2. What becomes of Ada's old governess?

3. How does Van first see Ada?

4. What bad habit does Ana stop on her twelfth birthday?

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

6. What happens in Van's stage act?

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. How does Lucette want to draw flowers, when her sister is trying to teach her to draw?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The novel is filled with reflections of reality through art, such as films and photographs. Discuss these elements of the novel.

1) How do reflections of reality in the novel, like photographs or films, differ from reality itself? How do they create reality through memory?

2) What significance is there to Marina and later Ada's careers as actresses? How does the mimicking of reality in acting affect the characters?

3) How does the governess's screenplay reflect reality at Ardis Hall? How is it modified and changed in the process of production? What does this process of change show about imitations of reality?

Essay Topic 2

The central story of the novel is focused on the incestuous relationship between Ada and Van. Discuss incest in the novel.

1) What are Van and Ada's attitudes toward incest? The implication is that even as children, they know they are brother and sister. Do they hide this knowledge from themselves? Do they accept it?

2) Why do Ada and Van change their mind about living together when Demon finds out? Are their self-perceptions changed by Demon's admission of their relationship as siblings? Are their actions driven by Demon's open knowledge of the secret? What are the societal attitudes involved?

3) Why does Van tell Lucette he doesn't want another incestuous relationship with her? What is different about a relationship with Lucette, as opposed to any other unrelated woman?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the mental and physical worlds in the novel.

1) How does the mental world of Van's intellectual investigations and books relate to the physical world around him?

2) How does Van's mental relationship with Ada relate to their physical relationship?

3) How does the balance of mind and body, mental and physical change over time, as Van ages?

(see the answer keys)

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