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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. In "Boule de Suif," why could no one mention Loiseau's name without adding that he was an "extraordinary man"?

2. In the beginning of "Boule de Suif," the soldiers wore long, dirty________ and tattered _________.

3. How many passengers are traveling on a coach in "Boule de Suif"?

4. Why do the coach passengers resemble "obese priests in their cassocks" when they meet for their seats?

5. What is NOT one of the reasons the coach passengers discuss in the kitchen after the meeting with the Prussian officer the first day in Totes?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the count try to persuade Boule de Suif to sleep with the Prussian, and why is it significant?

2. What is the atmosphere among the coach passengers when they arrive in Totes, and how is it significant?

3. What does Boule de Suif bring for lunch and why is it significant?

4. How do the passengers react to the coach finally being ready the day after Boule de Suif agrees to sleep with the Prussian officer, and what does it mean?

5. How does Boule de Suif reject Cornudet's advances and what does it signify?

6. How are the provisions the passengers provide in the coach from Totes described, and why is it significant?

7. Why does Loiseau take off his watch chain in the kitchen as the coach passengers discuss the Prussian officer's motives, and how is it significant?

8. How do the women converse about Boule de Suif and the Prussian and what does it signify?

9. What is the weather like as the passengers wait for the coach to be ready and how is it significant?

10. What does Madame Loiseau mean when she remarks to her husband on their way to bed regarding Madame Carre-Lamadon that she "laughed on the wrong side of her mouth all evening"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the psychology of occupation during the Franco-Prussian war.

1) How do the citizens cope with occupation?

2) How do the German soldiers behave in the cities they occupy?

3) How doe the French soldiers behave in Rouen?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss sex in the story.

1) How is sex used as a weapon against Boule de Suif?

2) How is Boule de Suif a victim of her profession?

Essay Topic 3

Compare and contrast Boule de Suif and Cornudet.

1) What makes them outsiders in the story and why?

2) Who is more or less sympathetic and why?

3) Who has more power and why?

(see the answer keys)

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