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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 the author describe Edna's feelings for her own children?

2. Who does Edna ask the little Negro girl to wake up?

3. When talking to both Adele and Edna, Robert is jovial and jokes often. Is he this way when alone with Edna?

4. What does opening up to Madame Ratignolle do for Edna?

5. What kind of woman is Edna not?

Short Essay Questions

1. Do you think Mr. Pontellier is too angry and too demanding when he gets angry at his wife for breaking their Tuesday routine?

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

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

4. Why does Adele urge Robert not to pursue Edna?

5. What do you think the author means when she says Edna was beginning to understand her place in the universe as a woman and as a human being?

6. Does Robert appear in any way to be a "bad boy"? If so, how?

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

8. Is Leonce at all upset that his wife has been away with another man?

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

10. Robert talks about his mother, Mrs. Lebrun. What does his mother do at the Grande Isle?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Although Mademoiselle Reisz is not a lifelong friend or acquaintance, how does she quickly become close with Edna? Why is she an important person in Edna's life? Why is she a critical character in this entire story?

Essay Topic 2

How would you characterize this novel? Is it a piece of literary romanticism? Realism? Naturalism? Why?

Essay Topic 3

What do you think of the final moments in Edna's life? Was she a coward for taking her own life? Or, was she brave in making the final decision on how to conclude her life?

(see the answer keys)

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