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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 influenced the design of men's clothes when Chanel was growing up?

2. What was Chanel's sister's name?

3. Where did Chanel go during her self-imposed exile following her scandalous affair?

4. In what season was Chanel born?

5. When did Chanel's father abandon her?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are some pieces of fashionable styles for men named in the Introduction of the book?

2. Who was Etienne Balsan?

3. When did Chanel's parents marry, and what did it mean for the family?

4. What did Chanel's father do for a living?

5. What had Chanel's family done for generations?

6. Emotionally, how important was Chanel's relationship with Arthur "Boy" Capel?

7. What was the result of Chanel's affair with a German officer?

8. Where did Chanel go after leaving the convent?

9. What made Chanel memorable to the people who met her?

10. What does Charles-Roux explain Chanel strove for her whole life to conceal?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the genre of the book. What is a biography? Is a biography guaranteed to be fact? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the author of the book, Edmonde Charles-Roux. Is she qualified to tell this story? Why or why not? What was her relationship with Coco Chanel? Does she appear to have a biased view of Chanel? What is her background?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss Chanel's life as a part of the demimonde. What was the demimonde? How did this time in her life impact her career?

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