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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. What was it about the photograph of June and Bernard that Jeremy kept looking at that was so appealing to him?

2. What organization did June join when she was eighteen-years-old?

3. Why does Jeremy state that he was something of a parent at the age of seventeen?

4. Bernard leaves the grave site to walk toward a yew tree in the cemetery. What does he do there?

5. What was June's basic view about life?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Jeremy feel about his friends' parents?

2. In June's version of how she and Bernard first met, she actively pursues him, making sure that Bernard sees her when he is near his office. She even tries to make small talk with him. Why does June pursue Bernard when he does not even seem to notice her?

3. In Part One, we know that Jeremy is a bit obsessed with looking at a photograph of June and Bernard that June keeps in her bedroom in the nursing home. What are Jeremy's predominant thoughts when he views the photo?

4. Does Jeremy feel like a surrogate parent to Sally?

5. Why did June and Bernard separate, according to the Preface?

6. Although June and Bernard appear to be living separate lives in Part One, why does Bernard visit her and want news of her from Jeremy?

7. In Bernard's version of how he and June first met, he says that he could see no point in her job, therefore he did not notice her at all. In his world, she did not even exist until someone told him that she was beautiful. What might this say about Bernard's personality?

8. In what way do Jeremy and June disagree on June's reference to her story of the black dogs in Part One of the story?

9. During one of her conversations with Jeremy, June talks about her obsessive relationship with Bernard and their love for one another that could not work. How does June find peace with this?

10. Why did Jeremy not ever return to Notting Hill?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

While touring the concentration camp with Jeremy, Jenny mentions the "black dogs". What significance does this hold for her? How is she relating it to Majdanek?

Essay Topic 2

The black dogs that June encountered were more than dogs to her. They were a symbol of great importance. What did they symbolize to her? In what way does her belief bear some truth?

Essay Topic 3

One line in Part Four reads "The empty air, suffused with sunlight, seemed to contain a darkness just beyond the reach of vision". Explain this sentence as it relates to the story as a whole. Give examples, citing scenes from the book to support your explanation.

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