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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 is the only difference between Violette's closest neighbors?

2. In Chapter 14, what does Violette compare her husband to?

3. What kind of clothes does Violette wear when she is not working?

4. What does Gabriel do for a living?

5. Who ends up in a romantic relationship with a half-brother?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is a great equalizer, according to Violette in Chapter 1?

2. In Chapter 3, why do Violette and Philippe lose their jobs as level-crossing guards?

3. What does Violette do as cemetery care-taker that is above and beyond what she needs to do?

4. What was Violette's childhood like?

5. What does Violette do once she locates Philippe Toussaint after almost 20 years of separation?

6. How does Violette become friends with Celia?

7. What happens shortly after Violette and Philippe move to the cemetery?

8. In Chapter 33, what is it that Irene first notices and likes about Gabriel?

9. In Chapter 25, how does Violette feel upon Leonine's birth?

10. Who finds Philippe for Violette and why does this person do it?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does Perrin develop and explain Violette's lifelong - but especially youthful - feelings of inadequacy and self-doubt? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 2

When and how does Perrin establish the ideas of "family" and "home" as seen through the orphaned Violette's eyes? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 3

How does the reader's perspective on Philippe Toussaint change over the course of the novel, and why? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

(see the answer keys)

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