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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. Who is Van's second for the duel?

2. What does Ada think of Van's change in weight?

3. What sense does Van relate to time?

4. Where does Demon say that Lucette was, when he let her know about Dan's death?

5. Who chooses the girls at Villa Venus?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What excuse does Van make up to have time alone with Ada?

3. What is Cordula's conversation like?

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

5. How does Van gain the post of Rattner Chair of Philosophy at University of Kingston?

6. What does Van do after leaving Demon?

7. What metaphor does Van use for trying to understand time?

8. What does Ada's letter say she will do if Van doesn't allow her to come live with him?

9. How does Van characterize to Greg his relationship with Ada?

10. What does Van give to Lucette in exchange for the name of the man who wants to marry her?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

Compare Lucette and Ada's characters in the novel.

1) What role does the age difference between Lucette and Ada play in their similarities and differences?

2) How doe Van love Lucette? How is this different from the way he loves Ada? Why?

3) What are Lucette and Ada's feelings for each other? What does this show about their personalities, values, and beliefs?

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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