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

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Victorine tell Léonie?

2. Who does Baptiste kiss?

3. What does Léonie offer to appease her cousin?

4. What does the priest suggest for Thérèse?

5. Who betrays Henri and Rose to the Nazis?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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.

Essay Topic 2

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 3

Chapters 25-28 are predominantly concerned with the process of Antoinette's imminent death and then her death. Death is viewed differently by different characters depending on their religious views and their relationship to the one dying, in this case, Antoinette. Choose one of the following questions and write a well-developed essay using examples from the book as well as personal experience:

1. How does Antoinette's imminent death and then subsequent death affect the following characters: Léonie, Thérèse, Louis, and Madeleine. Cite specific examples.

2 After conducting some research, compare and contrast Judaism's view of death versus the Roman Catholic view.

3. Discuss how you felt when someone close to you was dying and then after the person died. Are any of the emotions present in the novel similar to yours? Give examples.

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