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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. Over time, what does La Maga fantasize Horacio will do during sex?

2. What casual act of brutality does Ireneo commit in Chapter 120?

3. How does the point of view change in Chapter 3?

4. On what subject does Horatio privately expound at the end of Chapter 17?

5. In whose flat does the jazz listening session of this section take place?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Maga and Horacio's sex life become eerily unhealthy in Chapter 5?

2. Why is La Maga irate in Chapter 93?

3. Describe Ossip Gregorovius.

4. What event is taking place in this section?

5. What is the Club's Principle problem with the theories of Morelli, as stated in Chapter 141?

6. What is Horacio doing in the Ponts des Arts in Chapter 1?

7. Why does Horacio get slapped by Bertha Trepat in Chapter 23?

8. What is Ossip's diagnosis of Horacio in Chapter 16?

9. Why does Horacio choose not to help Etienne in Chapter 90?

10. How does Horacio's state of mind change over the course of this section?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is the millenary kingdom? Write an essay about this prelapsarian concept, where it comes from, and how it connects thematically with the events of the novel. What does the millenary kingdom mean to both Morelli and Horacio? Why do Etienne and Ronald think that La Maga had some innate connection to it? How is the entire Serpent Club, to some extent, existing in its own millenary kingdom until Rocamadour dies? How does this death force them all to face harsh realities? Conclude the essay by discussing whether the millenary kingdom is seen as a positive or negative thing.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay on the character of Rocamadour, La Maga's child. Begin by discussing his origins and his life after Maga comes to Europe. To what extent does Maga attempt to rid herself of the burden of raising him? What eventually brings him back to her? After analyzing Rocamadour's progress as a character, discuss his importance to the author. Does he function more as a character or a tool for driving story? How does his death affect everything that follows? Is the child mentioned after Horacio leaves Paris?

Essay Topic 3

HOPSCOTCH takes place in two large but intensely disparate cities: Paris and Buenos Aires. These two settings, and Horacio's attitude toward them, create two divergent tones within the novel. Write an essay about these two settings:

Part 1) What observations about the intellectual life in Paris does Horacio make at the beginning of the novel? How does this observation typify his attitude toward it as a setting? Write a paragraph noting several characters, locations and groups that represent the Paris of the novel.

Part 2) How is Buenos Aires markedly different from Paris in HOPSCOTCH? What is the tone of this setting, based upon the weather, the social gatherings, and the way in which Horacio must live in both? How is Buenos Aires more whimsical?

Part 3) Noting the differences between Paris and Buenos Aires above, write a summation paragraph discussing how the transition between the two locations indicates a shift in Horacio. What is the nature of this shift, and how does it affect him emotionally?

(see the answer keys)

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