View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Thérèse do with the package?

2. Who wants to show Léonie something?

3. Where does Léonie go and lie down?

4. How is the church decorated?

5. What is Louis doing in his workshop?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In chapter 3, Thérèse has left the monastery after being behind its walls for about twenty years. She feels disoriented and confused at life in the "real" world. Answer the following questions in a well-developed essay using examples from the book as well as personal experience:

1. How long do you think it will take Thérèse to adjust to the differences between a cloistered life and life among a diversity of people and places?

2. Why do you think Thérèse chose to close herself off from the "real" world? Are her motivations strictly spiritual? If she is alive after the ending of this story, do you think she will go back to the cloistered life? Why or why not?

3. Many men and women confined in a penal system for any duration of more than a few years find that they cannot adjust to "life on the outside," and often end up back in prison. Some even commit a crime in order to go back to prison. Why do you think this happens? Is there any way to help any person who has been isolated, whether in a penal system or otherwise, to adjust to a more public life? Explain.

Essay Topic 2

Dreams are detailed in several chapters of this work; two particularly long ones are in chapter 1 and chapter 47. Answer the following questions in a well-developed essay using examples from the book as well as personal experience:

1. Describe several symbols in the dreams and their meaning.

2. What do you think is the purpose of using dreams in this novel?

3. How effective are the dreams at explaining the interior landscape of Thérèse and Léonie, since each character dreams one of the two significant dreams.

4. Do you find that dreams contribute to the meaning of this work? What about other literature or film that has one or more dream scenes?

Essay Topic 3

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.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 545 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample