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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. Who is the third man to whom Valerie Marneffe tells he is going to be the father of her child?

2. Lisbeth offers to arrange a loan on good terms for Hortense and Wenceslas from whom?

3. Early in their relationship, who refuses to accompany the Baron to Valerie's house despite her entreaties?

4. What significant change to his appearance does Valerie induce Baron Hulot to make?

5. What does Victorin contribute to help his father get out of debt?

Short Essay Questions

1. Besides the news of the embezzlement scheme in the newspaper, what other news item is featured in the Revue des Beaux-Arts? What is Hortense's reaction to this item?

2. What does Adeline advise Hortense to do after her first quarrel with Wenceslas over Valerie Marneffe? What does Adeline reveal to her daughter about her own marriage?

3. What has happened to Wenceslas professionally in the three years since he has married Hortense? To what is this change attributed?

4. When he returns home after speaking to Valerie about the impossibility of Marneffe's promotion, what does Hector catch Adeline doing? With what intention did he return to his family that evening?

5. What are the three beauty spots that Valerie Marneffe arranges for her first meeting with Wenceslas? What is Wenceslas' impression of Valerie?

6. What does the regimental quartermaster from Algeria bring to Hector? What was he expecting the quartermaster to have brought him?

7. What publication makes Lisbeth so happy? What event begins a chain of events that will end this happiness?

8. What problem with her husband does Valerie alert Hector to in a letter? What solution does she suggest to this predicament? How does Hector respond to this suggestion?

9. What news is in the letter to Wenceslas from Valerie? What plan does she concoct for the interception of the letter and why?

10. Whom does Hector ask to solve his compromising situation with the Marneffes? What does this character do to help the Baron?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How is literary allusion used in Cousin Bette? Choose two examples from the text. What is the significance of these allusions? What messages do they communicate and to what themes do they relate?

Essay Topic 2

Foreshadowing is an important device employed in Cousin Bette. How does the author employ this device? What purpose does it serve? Use three specific examples from the text.

Essay Topic 3

What is the relationship between Lisbeth and Valerie Marneffe? Using three examples from the novel, explain how Valerie and Lisbeth's relationship developed over time. Do the two women really care for one another or are they united by malice and spite only? Give details from the text to support your answer.

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