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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 which year did Tsaravets fall, according to the unnamed narrator in "A Valediction"?

2. In what location do the unnamed narrator and R. spend a number of days together during R.'s winter vacation?

3. On what type of website did R. and the unnamed narrator first make contact with one another?

4. What is the second ritual the unnamed narrator and R. always enact when they reach a new hotel together?

5. What adjective does the unnamed narrator use to describe R.'s reaction to the opera performance?

Short Essay Questions

1. To what element of R.'s personality does the title of the section called "Cleanness" refer?

2. To what destination do the unnamed narrator and R. travel for a day trip during their vacation in Italy?

3. For what reason is the unnamed narrator's sighting of the Danube River in "A Valediction" significant?

4. In what way is R. different from the men the unnamed narrator has dated before, as depicted in Part II, Loving R.: "Cleanness"?

5. What ritual do R. and the unnamed narrator always perform when they check into a new hotel room?

6. To what location do the unnamed narrator and R. travel together during R.'s winter break in "The Frog King"?

7. What action does the priest in "Harbor" take that frightens the other members of the group?

8. What is Tsaravets, the site depicted in the section called "A Valediction"?

9. In what way does Greenwell clearly want the reader to see the unnamed narrator's comparison of Portugal and Bulgaria as flawed?

10. When the section entitled "Harbor" begins, at which sight is the unnamed narrator gazing?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Sensory details are used frequently by Greenwell in order to create vivid pictures of each character's progression through the narrative of Cleanness. Choose three scenes in which sensory details are heavily used and discuss how the sensory details used serve Greenwell’s creation of vivid characters to populate the narrative.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss Greenwell’s messages about guilt and responsibility within Cleanness.

Essay Topic 3

Examine the role of family within the text Cleanness. What types of family relationships are represented and how does Greenwell use their variety to inform many of the work's themes?

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