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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 was Hesse's family's religion?

2. What did Hesse do in 1907?

3. How did Hesse feel about his novel "Gertrud?"

4. When was interest in Hesse's work revived?

5. When did Hesse return to work in the year of his mother's death?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What does Freedman say about Hesse's popularity over the years?

3. What was Hesse's arrival in Tubingen like?

4. Describe Hesse's move to Basel.

5. Where did Hesse meet his first wife?

6. How does Freedman describe Hesse's childhood?

7. Describe Hesse's schooling.

8. What is Freedman's stance with regard to the relationship between Hesse's life and works?

9. When did Hesse begin to be successful as a writer?

10. What did Hesse get from his trip to India in 1911?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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?

Essay Topic 2

Hesse's parents were missionaries, and they sent him away to a mission school at six because he was judged too difficult to deal with. What is the role of missionary work in Hesse's life and work? What values did he learn from his parents' missionary work? What values did he learn by fleeing from it or rebelling against it?

Essay Topic 3

Hesse experienced periods of depression from time to time throughout his life. What was he depressed about? What did he learn to do to fight his depression? What did he learn from examining the causes of his depression? What was his experience of psychoanalysis like?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 739 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample