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. What chore did Griet look forward to most?

2. What room was Griet to be in charge of cleaning without appearing to have moved anything?

3. Who broke Griet's favorite tile?

4. What happened when Griet began to obsess about the plague?

5. How many butchers were there in Market Square?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did the plague affect Griet?

2. Why did Maria agree to keep Griet's involvement in Vermeer's paintings a secret?

3. What role did competition play in Griet's time at the Vermeer home?

4. Who was Tanneke?

5. How did Griet feel caught between two men?

6. What were some of the class differences between Griet and the Vermeers?

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

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

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

10. How did Griet feel after cleaning out the studio?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Who are the victims in Girl with a Pearl Earring? How might both Griet and Catharina fit into this role?

Essay Topic 2

What role does dissatisfaction play in the lives of the main characters in the novel? How and why is Griet dissatisfied? How does she show this?

Essay Topic 3

Compare and contrast Griet's mother and Catharina. In what ways do they treat Griet the same? In what ways are the alike in terms of goals for their families?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 855 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample