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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 Mrs. Pontellier feel comfortable in the company of Creoles?

2. Who is the embodiment of every womanly grace and charm?

3. What does Edna do at Madame Antoine's?

4. Who is Montel?

5. What does Madame Ratignolle mean when she talks about her condition?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why doe Edna feel so comfortable in Madame Antoine's house right away?

2. Why do you think Mr. Pontellier is so enraged at his wife when he thinks Raoul has a fever?

3. What is it about the ocean that emboldens Edna?

4. Why does Edna leave the Ratignolles in a depressed rather than a happy state of mind?

5. Is Edna taking a big risk by going to the Lebrun house to find Mademoiselle Reisz's address?

6. What do we learn is different about Mrs. Pontellier from the other wives who summer at the Grande Isle?

7. Despite his sudden departure, and the way in which she found out he was leaving, Edna really misses him. Why is his absence so painful for her?

8. What is the purpose of Mariequita in this part of the story?

9. What is the first impression the author gives of Mrs. Pontellier?

10. How does Chopin use foreshadowing in this chapter to warn of events to come?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In Chapter 30, when Edna has her guests over for her coup d'etat dinner party, there is a moment when she retreats into her own thoughts. "But as she sat there amid her guests, she felt the old ennui overtaking her; the hopelessness which so often assailed her, which came upon her like an obsession, like something extraneous, independent of volition. It was something which announced itself; a chill breath that seemed to issue from some vast cavern wherein discords walled. There came over her the acute longing which always summoned into her spiritual vision the presence of the beloved one, overpowering her at once with a sense of the unattainable."

What does this passage mean? What does is say about Edna at this point in her life?

Essay Topic 2

Edna could have insisted that Robert come with her to the Ratignolle's house but did not. If they had gone together, would they have had a chance at a lifetime of happiness, or, were they doomed no matter what?

Essay Topic 3

Describe Alcee Arobin. Knowing his reputation, why does Edna still want to be with him? How is he important in her development into an independent, free-thinking woman?

(see the answer keys)

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