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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 is the primary agricultural product of the Moulinard commune?

2. Who helps Pascal with his cow?

3. What profession had Lucien’s father pursued?

4. For whom had René worked?

5. Which of the following does the narrator see protested in Nebraska?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Lucien posit there are stickers posted in the lodgings the narrator occupies?

2. Of what does René’s smell remind the narrator?

3. Why does the narrator rule out Florence as a potential anti-Pascal actor?

4. How was Bruno’s older brother identified after World War II?

5. How does Pascal’s appearance when the narrator meets him differ from her expectations?

6. Per Pascal, why does Bruno part from his erstwhile Marxist associates?

7. Why does Platon travel to the Guyenne with minimal staff?

8. Why do quinces confuse the narrator?

9. What critique do Denis and Françoise have of the Moulinards?

10. Why do the old anglers in Guyenne want to go to Oklahoma to fish?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Explicate the significance of the name of any one character in the text.

Essay Topic 2

Which character is the second most important in the text? How does the work support such an assertion?

Essay Topic 3

In the novel, some characters are given but one name, while others are given first- and surnames, and still others are accorded names and titles. What significance, if any, accrues to patterns of naming in the novel? If no significance accrues, what purpose might be served by the patterns of naming in the novel? How does Creation Lake bear as much out?

(see the answer keys)

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