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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 happened to Hesse's work in Germany as a result of Hesse's protest over the alteration of his poem?

2. Where did Hesse eventually settle after leaving Bern?

3. When did Hesse marry Ninon?

4. Why did Hesse not travel to accept his award?

5. What happened to Ninon in 1937?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe Hesse's last years and death.

2. What did Hesse portray in 'Narcissus and Goldmund'?

3. Describe "Piktor's Metamorphosis" and Hesse's later writing.

4. Who was Ruth Wenger?

5. What does Freedman say Hesse represented with "Steppenwolf"?

6. Describe the novel "Rosshalde."

7. How did Hesse react to the critic who attacked him in Germany?

8. How was Hesse supporting himself and his family?

9. Describe Hesse's travels in 1924 and 1925.

10. Describe "The Glass Bead Game."

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What nationality is Hesse? In what aspects of his life did a certain nationality hold certain meaning? In what ways does Hesse transcend nationality? With which nationalities did Hesse identify? How did he use his nationality? What did identifying with a nationality do for him? What did escaping from nationality do for him?

Essay Topic 2

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 3

How did Hesse develop as a novelist? What trajectory do his novels trace? What events in his personal life influenced this trajectory? What did he learn as a novelist, and how do his novels reflect an evolution as he acquired various techniques in his writing?

(see the answer keys)

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