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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. Why does Talita wake up in Chapter 45?

2. What task is Horacio undertaking at the beginning of Chapter 41?

3. What term does Horacio use to refer to his destined home is Chapter 36?

4. What is significant about the hotel that Pola and Horacio go to in Chapter 92?

5. What is Feraguto about to purchase in Chapter 44?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who is Pola, and how does she know Horacio?

2. What eerie, somewhat mystical, harbinger comes to Pola in Chapter 64?

3. What does Horacio do before coming to Buenos Aires?

4. In Chapter 56, how does Horacio protect himself after he kisses Talita?

5. How does Traveler's codependency with Horacio manifest itself in this section?

6. Professionally, what changes for Traveler, Horacio and Talita in this section?

7. Describe Horacio's dream in Chapter 100.

8. What legal formality takes place in Chapter 51?

9. How does the Serpent Club's final gathering end?

10. What is revolutionary about Morelli's forthcoming book?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

An emotional change occurs in Horacio between the death of Rocamadour and Horacio's arrival in Buenos Aires. He tells Ossip he wants anonymity and develops a plan for his relationship with the Travelers. Write an essay about this shift from sensation to observation in Horacio. What does he want from Manu and Talita, and how does he go about getting it? Whom does he have to use in the process? Discuss how this attempt at dispassion eventually pushes him into a sort of madness. What is Cortazar saying about the need to express emotion, no matter how painful?

Essay Topic 2

Much of the conflict in Cortazar's novel centers around Horacio's relationships with various women. These relationships are tinted with contention, passion, and eventual tragedy. Write an essay about three such involvements:

Part 1) How is Horacio's involvement with La Maga the central relationship of the novel? What does La Maga represent that is so at odd with Horacio's worldview, and how does this conflict manifest itself? Discuss the tragedy that occurs in Book 1 that drives the two apart irrevocably.

Part 2) What is the nature of Horacio's affair with Pola? What aspects of her personality and background make her a compelling alternative to La Maga? Write an essay about their brief affair and the tragedy that ends it.

Part 3) Why does Horacio kiss Talita at the end of the novel? Has there been any indication that he is attracted to her heretofore? Write an essay about Horacio's relationship with Talita and how it reflects a slow and subtle disassociation with reality. What is the fallout of the kiss?

Essay Topic 3

The characters of HOPSCOTCH can almost universally be described as intellects. They read constantly that they may spend the rest of their hours debating text and theory. Write an essay about Cortazar's attitude toward theory in an essay in three parts:

Part 1) This fixation on theory is perhaps best illustrated with the protagonist, Horacio. Write an essay examining his obsession with texts and proofs. How does this fixation affect his everyday life? What criticism does he receive from his friends as a result?

Part 2) Spend a paragraph discussing the gatherings and discussions of the Serpent Club. What dialectical arguments do they have to pass the time, and why is La Maga so often ostracized from them? What prerequisites exist for inclusion?

Part 3) Book 1 seems to climax at a moment when, as Horacio observes, dialectical argument proves insufficient. What is this moment? How does this moment shatter the wall of theory built by the Club? What happens to the club as a result?

(see the answer keys)

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