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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. How did Hesse feel in Tubingen?

2. What was the name of the periodical to which Hesse contributed around the time of his first child's birth?

3. Who was Hesse's closest friend in Tubingen?

4. What was Hesse's earliest memory?

5. When did Hesse begin to run away from school?

Short Essay Questions

1. Under what circumstances did Hesse ultimately marry his first wife?

2. What was Hesse's health like, and how did it affect his development?

3. Who were Hesse's parents? How did they meet?

4. What was Hesse's social life like in Basel?

5. How does Freedman describe Hesse's childhood?

6. What was Hesse's relationship with his family's values as a young man?

7. Why was 1902 an important year for Hesse?

8. Describe the importance of spas and cures in Hesse's life.

9. Where did Hesse meet his first wife?

10. Where would Hesse run away from? Where would he run away to?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How important was Hesse's health, in his career as a writer and in his personal development? What did his health force him to accept? What did Hesse learn from fighting his maladies? How did his health and his struggles with his health show up in his work?

Essay Topic 2

Describe Hesse's relationship with women. What differences are there between the women in Hesse's writing and the women in Hesse's life? What did he demand from women, and how did he handle disappointment? What commitments would he make to women, and what would he do to protect his freedom? What was he protecting in himself? What parts of his wives was he protecting himself against?

Essay Topic 3

Hesse's parents were Pietist missionaries. What was Pietism, and what role did it play in Hesse's development as a person and as a writer? What values did he get from Pietism? What values did he get by rebelling against it? Is Hesse a Pietist writer?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 718 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample