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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. Who was Griet's younger sister?

2. Where did Griet feel most at peace?

3. How did the pregnant woman react to her husband's attention spent on Griet?

4. What did Griet's sister's death symbolize?

5. How did Griet perceive her own vanity?

Short Essay Questions

1. Was Vermeer protective of Griet?

2. What was Griet's first impression of the Vermeer family?

3. What connection did Griet and Vermeer have immediately?

4. What role does the theme of life and death play in Girl with a Pearl Earring?

5. What kind of pressure was Vermeer under?

6. Describe Griet's first visit home after she began to work for the Vermeers.

7. How is helplessness a theme in Girl with a Pearl Earring?

8. What family problems did Griet experience at her family's home?

9. Who was Pieter the Son?

10. What did Vermeer and Catharina often fight about?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe the role of the theme of competition in Girl with a Pearl Earring.

Essay Topic 2

What role do social and class differences play in creating a divide between some of the characters? How do these differences in class and social status create conflict? How do these differences lead to character development?

Essay Topic 3

What is Griet's first impression of the Vermeers? How does the couple live up to Griet's expectation? How does Griet's first impression differ from the reader's? What are the reasons for these differences?

(see the answer keys)

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