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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. Does Ada allow Van to send his apologetic letter to Lucette?

2. Who does the woman on the boat mistake Van for?

3. At the Villa Venus where Van goes for the last time, what causes the grand piano to play?

4. What does Van term the act of pausing and sending the mind slightly backwards, to examine the moment of the present?

5. Who is Van's second for the duel?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What is Cordula's conversation like?

3. What does Van do after leaving Demon?

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

5. When Ada telephones Van, what does she tell him?

6. What does Cordula tell Van about Vanda Broom?

7. How does Van respond to Ada's arrival?

8. What tragedy happened at the Villa Venus in Souvenir, Missouri?

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss madness in the novel.

1) What is Aqua's madness in the novel? Why does she go from sanitarium to sanitarium, and why does she kill herself?

2) What types of madness do Van's patients display? Why do mad patients see visions of Terra in the novel?

Essay Topic 3

Van has a privileged life. Discuss privilege in the novel.

1) What freedoms does Van's wealth and status allow him? How would his life be different if he weren't wealthy?

2) How is it significant that Van has an independent inheritance from Aqua and is not dependent on Demon for money?

3) What is Van's perception of his position of privilege, and how does this perception change throughout his life, from youth to old age?

(see the answer keys)

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