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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is one subject of the guests and hosts' conversation during the group's first dinner together?
(a) The value of the farmstead and its surrounding fields.
(b) The new taxation structure favored by the monarchy.
(c) Eduard and Charlotte's early love at court.
(d) Ottilie's schooling and her future as a governess.

2. Early in the novel, what is the general feeling among the four main occupants of the household?
(a) They increasingly want more time alone instead of together.
(b) They begin to suspect one another of adultery.
(c) They enjoy feelings of mutual affection and goodwill.
(d) They find themselves quarreling over minor matters.

3. What does Ottilie set in the foundation stone with the other peoples' offerings?
(a) A letter from the schoolmaster.
(b) A ring her mother gave her.
(c) A miniature portrait of her father.
(d) A lock of her own hair.

4. What nickname do both the master of the estate and his male guest share?
(a) Jules.
(b) Otto.
(c) Rolf.
(d) Augie.

5. What service does Ottilie volunteer to do for Eduard?
(a) Repair his many torn articles of clothing.
(b) Finish the lengthy inventory of the household.
(c) Finalize the design of the chapel.
(d) Make the final copy of the farmstead sale contract.

Short Answer Questions

1. What activity are the married couple primarily engaged in at the beginning of the novel?

2. What very capable person, who takes over the work of the landscape improvements, is the Captain very pleased with?

3. How do Eduard and Ottilie unexpectedly prove their compatibility with one another?

4. What seemingly miraculous event occurs at the completion of the foundation stone ceremony?

5. What final decision does Eduard make at the end of Part I?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the substance of Charlotte and Eduard's argument at the beginning of Part I, Chapter 16, and how is it resolved?

2. What does Eduard decide to do to further his relationship with Ottilie, and how does this attempt end up?

3. Summarize the concept of "elective affinities," and describe how the Captain, Eduard, and Charlotte formulate their discussion of this concept.

4. Describe the Count and the Baroness and the circumstances surrounding them.

5. What event leads to a sexually charged encounter between Charlotte and the Captain, and how does Charlotte react to it?

6. In Part I, Chapter 6, what activity becomes the clear marker of the shifting compatibilities of the four protagonists?

7. Why does Charlotte object to Eduard's proposal of bringing the Captain to live at their estate?

8. How does Ottilie act around the others when she arrives at the estate?

9. What does Mittler do regarding Charlotte and Eduard's tense situation?

10. Summarize the letters from the headmistress and the schoolmaster.

(see the answer keys)

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