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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 does the young wife say the phone is as dead as?

2. What does the house keeper bring the young wife?

3. What does the young wife smell when she steps off the train?

4. What type of desk does the husband have in his study?

5. Who is waiting for them at the station?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why do you think the husband tries to tempt his young wife with the small key?

2. Do you think Carter represents the Marquis as unstable and crazy or just plain evil?

3. In what ways has the young wife grown up in a short space of time?

4. Why do you think Carter is so descriptive about the dead bodies?

5. In what ways is the young woman experienced?

6. How is it significant that the piano tuner is blind?

7. Why do you think the young wife is so quick to call the piano tuner her young lover?

8. What do you think the girl means to the Marquis?

9. Why do you think the Marquis stops what he is doing when the door is locked?

10. Why does the mother allow her young daughter to marry the Marquis when she has reservations about him?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The book is set in Brittany in France. Why do you think Carter sets her story here? What meaning does it add? What difference do you think there would be in the story if it was set in another country or region?

Essay Topic 2

The character of a Marquis has a history in fiction and popular culture. What meaning does the Marquis bring to the story? What other Marquis's are there from popular culture that shares similar characteristics.

Essay Topic 3

Using two examples from the book discuss the following statement. The story plays on the reader's expectations and changes them to mold a different meaning.

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