View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. While she is doing her language homework, how does Zuta feel about the confrontation that happened at the dinner table earlier that night?

2. Who does Joey run into a field with at the end of the novel?

3. Which of the following characters is not involved in the massive brawl at the end of the novel?

4. How does Zuta react when Kopyrda climbs through her window?

5. Which of the following items is not something Uncle demands from the servant to show him his place in the household?

Short Essay Questions

1. What interesting items does Joey find in Zuta's bedroom when he snoops through her belongings?

2. What motivation does the narrator say he has for wanting to be a storyteller?

3. What happens when Joey and Kneadus reach the edge of the city in their search for the farmhand?

4. Who starts the final brawl of the novel?

5. How does Mr. Youngblood react to the scene he walks into in Zuta's bedroom while looking for thieves?

6. How does Zuta react when Kopyrda sneaks through her bedroom window?

7. Why does Joey create a peephole between his bedroom and Zuta's bedroom?

8. How do Joey and Kneadus fare while searching for the farmhand in the city?

9. How does the colonel respond to the tennis game he is watching in the 18th century?

10. Why does Joey end up in a field at the end of the novel?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Doctor Pimko is introduced at the opening of the novel as a much different doctor than he is at the end of the novel. First, describe the first scenes in which Pimko is introduced to the reader. How is he treating his patients? Then, compare that to the Doctor Pimko the reader sees at the end of the novel. Choose at least two scenes that you think best exemplify Doctor Pimko's change, and describe these scenes.

Essay Topic 2

In Pimko's school, the best attribute a student can have is immaturity. First, describe why immaturity is such an alluring character trait for the students in Pimko's school. Then, describe how the teachers manipulate the immature students' brains. What commentary is Gombrowicz making about academia in general through the use of his overbearing, opinionated teachers? Choose at least two examples of scenes from the text that you believe best exemplify and strengthen your argument and describe those scenes in this essay.

Essay Topic 3

Throughout the novel there are many references to the human body. Choose at least two scenes in which a part of the human body is a key element. What metaphor is being created through the use of these body parts? What is the overarching message the narrator is trying to communicate about the symbolism of the human body in literature?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,050 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample