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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. Early in the novel, what is the general feeling among the four main occupants of the household?

2. What does Ottilie set in the foundation stone with the other peoples' offerings?

3. What request does Eduard make of the person who visits him in his solitude?

4. Whom does Eduard send to speak with Ottilie in private?

5. What idea of the male guest strikes Charlotte like a "thunderbolt?"

Short Essay Questions

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

2. How does Ottilie and Charlotte's relationship change in Part I, Chapter 17?

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

4. What counteroffer does Charlotte make to Eduard's proposal of the Captain's visit?

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

6. How does Eduard change in the wake of his realization of his passion for Ottilie?

7. What does the Baroness discover about Eduard, and how does she react to it?

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

9. Summarize the events which occur on Ottilie's birthday.

10. Summarize the event which results in Eduard finding himself attracted to Ottilie.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Consider the form, style, and content of the novel as a whole. What is the style of narrative discourse in which Goethe generally writes? What type of narrator is Goethe's narrator, and how does he use this figure as a mediation between the story and the reader? What are the effects on the narrative when the narrator occasionally switches verb tense? How does the occasional interspersion of letters and journal entries affect the "flow" of the novel, the reader's perspective of the characters, and the plot itself? How does this story fit into the genre of the novel?

Essay Topic 2

Choose three symbolic objects, characters, places, or events in the novel and discuss their significance to the plot, character development, thematic evolution, and the narrative as a whole. Some examples of symbolism include: Ottilie's miniature portrait of her father; the crystal goblet engraved with "EO;" the moss hut and pavilion; the various celebrations for characters' birthdays; Eduard's decision to rejoin the military; the events at Otto's baptism; Ottilie's Moroccan chest; the fireworks at the lake; the relationship between the Count and the Baroness; the contract; the restoration of the chapel; Otto's death; Charlotte's changes to the burial grounds in the churchyard; and so on. What do your selected symbols mean for the characters in the novel and do they differ from how you the reader interpret them in your analysis of the narrative as a whole?

Essay Topic 3

Examine the significance of Ottilie's death, the circumstances surrounding it, and her specific method of death. What are the indirect and direct causes of her death, and what event or events precipitate her death? Can "starving" be related to any other instance, theme, interaction between characters, or symbol in the novel? Was Ottilie's death and her method of killing herself foreshadowed anywhere else in the novel? Who, if anyone, can be considered culpable in Ottilie's death, if it was a suicide? How does the method of Ottilie's death reflect her characteristic reliance on fate and on her own inaction (or the actions of others) throughout the rest of the novel?

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