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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. What subject do Eduard and his male guest discuss in the night?

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

3. What is the name of the first character introduced in the novel?

4. Once the Captain leaves, what does Charlotte suggest to Eduard regarding Ottilie?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. How do the four protagonists' relationships change after Eduard evinces a passion for Ottilie?

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

3. Describe Eduard's estate and his, the Captain's, and Charlotte's general plans for it.

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

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

6. Where on the estate do the four protagonists increase their work, and for what coming occasion?

7. Describe Eduard's and the Captain's interactions with members of the lower social classes.

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

9. How does Eduard explain to Mittler how he feels and acts?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Examine the themes of embodiment, physicality, sexuality, and sensuality that are present in the novel. How do the characters' physical presence sometimes influence the thoughts, feelings, and actions of other characters? What is the significance of inanimate objects such as letters, contracts, and trinkets embodying certain characters? Why might the narrator find it important to note, in Part II, Chapter 13, that just before Otto dies Ottilie experiences two distinct moments of true sensuality? How do Eduard and Charlotte interact each other in Part I, Chapter 11 by imagining their lovers embodied in each other? What episodes of, or references to, frank sexuality and sensuality do you think are important to an understanding of the novel?

Essay Topic 2

Examine Ottilie's character as it evolves over the entire course of the novel. What is Ottilie like in the beginning of the book, in the middle, and by the end? How does she express her thoughts and feelings? What sort of language does she use, and how does the narrator describe her directly and indirectly? What notable actions does Ottilie take through the course of the novel, and what motivates these actions? How are your perceptions of her shaped by Ottilie herself, by other characters, and by the narrator?

Essay Topic 3

Apply the principle of "elective affinities," as discussed by Eduard, Charlotte, and the Captain in Part I, Chapter 4, to the novel in its entirety. Provide a short summary of the essence of the idea of elective affinities: what is it, and in which disciplines is it particularly useful? How do Eduard, Charlotte, and the Captain understand and explain this principle? Where do you find this principle most present in the various relationships between the four protagonists? Do you find aspects of elective affinities present in any of the minor characters, or in any of the portions of the novel that are not strictly related to the plot (such as letters, journals, and other stories)?

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