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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. From what culture does the deus ex machina come from?

2. Where does Clamence say he is obliged to live?

3. What begins Clamence's dissertation on power?

4. What is the first topic to be discussed in this chapter?

5. What does Clamence smile at in this chapter?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is a Sadducee?

2. How is Clamence's role as a deus ex machina an accurate metaphor for his work with the demoralized criminals of Paris?

3. In what way does Clamence compare Amsterdam to Dante's circles of hell?

4. How does the narrator compare Amsterdam and Paris?

5. In what way is Clamence similar to the criminals he once defended?

6. What do Clamence and his new companion represent?

7. What is Clamence's opinion on the Dutch?

8. What is the significance of Clamence calling himself Jean-Baptiste?

9. Describe the Mexico City bar.

10. What does Clamence talk about on the walk to the hotel?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Examine the relationship between the Auditor and Clamence. What are their similarities and differences? How do these differences and similarities work to form their complex relationship Camus develops? Why is it significant that the Clamence sees the Auditor as someone like himself?

Essay Topic 2

What is a Judge Penitinent? In what way is it a contradiction? Why is this contradiction important to the ideas that Clamence is trying to express? What does Clamence mean when he says that modern life requires a paradox?

Essay Topic 3

Examine the construction of Clamence's argument.

1) How does he introduce his ideas?

2) How does he deconstruct his ideas into a logical conclusion?

3) Are the ideas that Camus presents in his book, ideas that relate only the way Clamence lived his life or is the argument a critique of society in general?

(see the answer keys)

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