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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. How does Van feel about Ada when he first sees her after her husband's death?

2. What is Van's purpose in writing his book about time?

3. After meeting with Demon, does Van believe he should part with Ada?

4. What does Van say it's wrong to confuse time with?

5. What does Van not bother to put on before heading out to meet Ada?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Van propose about the future in his treatise on time?

2. What does Van say is as common in dreams as metaphors are in poetry?

3. Why does Van need to go back for more surgery?

4. How does Demon discover that Van is living with Ada?

5. What does Van write about in his unsent letter to Ada?

6. How does Van remember his three farewell lectures on Bergson's Time?

7. What does Van plan to do in the duel?

8. In Marina's last days, why is Van planning a trip to America?

9. How does Van respond to an invitation to dine at the Captain's table?

10. Why does Van think he is sterile?

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

Discuss the importance of Ardis Hall in the novel.

1) What meanings and associations does Ardis Hall have for Van and Ada?

2) Why does Van never go back and live at Ardis Hall when he is older? Why does Lucette suggest they go to Ardis Hall?

3) By the end of the novel, Ardis Hall mainly exists in memory for the main characters. How is the memory different from the reality?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the structure of the novel.

1) What role does each of the five parts of the novel play? How does each represent a specific period in the relationship of Ada and Van, and how are those periods different from each other?

2) Why is the first book the longest? Why is the fourth book a single chapter?

3) In what ways is the structure chronological? How and why does it break out of chronological order?

(see the answer keys)

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