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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. How is the farmhouse described?

2. How does Thérèse feel in her clothes?

3. What does Louis suffer after Antoinette dies?

4. Who convinces Thérèse to eat?

5. Why does Madeleine defend Léonie's action of going down to the cellar?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is the relationship between Baptiste and Léonie developed in this chapter?

2. What so you think is the symbolism attached to Thérèse jumping free of her burning clothes?

3. What do you think is symbolic about the dinner the two women share?

4. How do Therèse's actions in this chapter, "The Fish Kettle," foreshadow her decision to become a nun?

5. Describe the first few minutes of Thérèse and Léonie's time together as described in "The Chandelier."

6. In "The Gray Silk Nightshirt," as the two women sit and chat in Thérèse's room, what is revealed overtly or implied about their relationship and each woman as individuals?

7. In "The Writing Table," what is Léonie doing on the advice of her lawyer and why?

8. What in the chapter, "The Recipe Book," suggests that prejudice still exists against the Jews?

9. In the chapter, "The Oranges," what problem do you think Léonie is really trying to resolve when she is juggling the oranges or thinking of the magpies?

10. What is the memory that Léonie intuits?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Most novels have several themes, one or two main themes and one or more minor themes. Choose one of the following questions and write a well-developed essay using examples from the book as well as personal experience:

1. Discuss one of what you believe to be a major theme. Give specific examples of how the theme is illustrated and why you think it is a major theme.

2. Discuss two minor themes of the novel. Give specific examples of how the themes are illustrated and why you choose those themes.

3. Briefly define several themes of the novel and show how they are interrelated, using examples from the book.

Essay Topic 2

In Chapter 9, Léonie is fascinated by the family photographs in the main salon. Choose one of the following questions and write a well-developed essay using examples from the book as well as personal experience:

1. Discuss the photographs that are mentioned throughout the novel and what they might imply about the persons in each picture.

2. Write an essay on the history of photography and how it has impacted one particular aspect of modern culture.

3. Why are humans fascinated with producing imagery, especially reproducing exact images of themselves and their environment? Do you think this is a way of obtaining immortality? How do you feel about photography and the pictures you have taken?

Essay Topic 3

Chapters 18 and 19 both obliquely refer to the rape of Antoinette by a German soldier during WWII. There are a number of references throughout the text that implies that Thérèse, and perhaps even Léonie is a product of this rape. Answer the following questions in a well-developed essay using examples from the book as well as personal experience:

1. List and discuss the references throughout the novel that suggests that Antoinette is raped by a German soldier. Include dreams, conversations, and any other sources. What is your interpretation of the textual evidence?

2. Discuss the references that suggest that Thérèse is a product of the rape. Are there references that imply that Léonie is not only Thérèse's sister, but her twin and is a product of the same rape? Find those references also. What do you believe about the parentage of the two girls? Support your statements with specific textual references.

3. Breasts are an obvious symbol of maternity in that women breastfeed their children. Discuss the implications of Antoinette's breast cancer and her role as a mother juxtaposed next to the fact that she is raped.

(see the answer keys)

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