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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. Aschenbach's work ethic could be called _________.

2. Aschenbach sees a man at the chapel. What color is the man's hair?

3. What does Aschenbach chronically suffer from?

4. At the chapel, Aschenbach encounters a _______ man.

5. What expression does the man at the chapel give to Aschenbach?

Short Essay Questions

1. Does Aschenbach look at Tadzio analytically or with glorification?

2. Why does Aschenbach smile at Tadzio when he sees him and his family at the end of Part Four? What does Aschenbach do after?

3. How does being an artist change Aschenbach's daily life? How does it set him apart from others?

4. Why does Venice smell of carbolic acid and why won't any Venetians explain this?

5. How does Aschenbach draw back from his daydream?

6. Why does Aschenbach decide to stay? What does this decision mean in terms of a change in Aschenbach?

7. What was suspicious about the gondolier? Why does he run away?

8. In Aschenbach's opinion, what does art conquer?

9. How does Venice reflect Aschenbach's mental state?

10. What was Aschenbach's home-life and education like?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What parallels can be drawn between Aschenbch and Jashu in their relationship to Tadzio?

Essay Topic 2

Venice serves more significance to the story than being a simple stage.

1) What does Venice represent?

2) What do Venetians represent? What is a common characteristic of Venetians?

3) Why is Venice an effective stage for this story?

Essay Topic 3

The beginning of "Death In Venice" is full of foreshadowing.

1) Highlight points in the book where Mann and the narrator make abstract foreshadowing.

2) Highlight points in the book where you feel the outcome is predictable, given the concreteness the narrator or Mann has given the reader.

3) Highlight points where the course of the book changes, and what the narrator and Mann had established seem to veer from the reader's predictions.

4) To what point does this predictability work towards?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 750 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample