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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 game did Van win in a match against Pat Rishin at Chose in 1887?
2. In what Manhattan landmark building did Dan propose to Marina in 1871?
3. Why does Ada want to give Lucette a bath?
4. What was Van wearing the first time she glimpsed him, before they met?
5. What is Marina, Demon, and Daniel's shared birthday?
Short Essay Questions
1. How does Marina describe Jews to her daughter?
2. What reason does Van give Marina for leaving?
3. What bad habit does Ana stop on her twelfth birthday?
4. What did Ada do when Dr. Krolik died?
5. What happens in Van's stage act?
6. Describe the encounter between Blanche and Van.
7. How does Lucette want to draw flowers, when her sister is trying to teach her to draw?
8. How does young Van feel about Ada?
9. What does Van do, when Ada suggests he spank Lucette?
10. What does Ada say lions do when they eat a person?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
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 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
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?
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This section contains 861 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) |
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