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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which of the following did the thoroughly unhappy young man Proust wrote about NOT desire?
(a) Grand places.
(b) Love.
(c) Traveling the world.
(d) Cathedrals.

2. What happened where Proust went to with his father as a child?
(a) He was unable to perform.
(b) He was great art.
(c) He caught a foul ball.
(d) He was trapeeze.

3. What is Proust's narrator suddenly filled with after he eats some cake in "In Search of Lost Time"?
(a) Compassion.
(b) Passion.
(c) Motivation.
(d) Zest and energy.

4. What did Proust believe about people when they were with their friends?
(a) They were honest.
(b) They felt support.
(c) They were not themselves.
(d) They were pretending.

5. What was the artist Proust wanted the young boy to become acquainted with paint?
(a) People.
(b) Night skies.
(c) Still-life renderings.
(d) Water lillies.

6. What does Proust argue people are not doing when they use trite and cliched expressions?
(a) They rely on others to communicate.
(b) They are not being true to themselves.
(c) They are uneducated.
(d) They are annoying.

7. Who is Gilberte?
(a) Proust's girlfriend.
(b) De Botton's girlfriend.
(c) Proust's sister.
(d) The woman the narrator in "In Search of Lost Time" becomes enamored with.

8. What did Proust strive to find within his writing?
(a) The most perfect writing.
(b) The most perfect means of expression.
(c) The most perfect storytelling.
(d) The most perfect means of communication.

9. What was the rage of all aristocratic circles in the early 20th century?
(a) Knowledge and interest of art.
(b) Going to art shows.
(c) Collecting art.
(d) Appreciating art.

10. What did Proust's own problems with friendship come from?
(a) His supernatural powers of love.
(b) His supernatural powers of inferiority.
(c) His supernatural powers of analysis.
(d) His supernatural powers of perception.

11. What should lovers take great pains in doing according to Proust?
(a) Discovering new things about their partners.
(b) Remembeirng the good times.
(c) Having special nights.
(d) Making each other feel supported.

12. Why is the narrator upset about the way the beach house is in Proust's story?
(a) The reality was exactly like his image.
(b) He wasn't.
(c) He wanted solitude.
(d) The reality did not match his image.

13. Who was an editor who also wrote a piece about a composer George Bizet?
(a) Proust.
(b) De Botton.
(c) Marquis de Lau.
(d) Louis Ganderax.

14. What do Proust's friends say about Proust in the quotes De Botton gives?
(a) They praise him.
(b) The bash him.
(c) They say he is odd and ill.
(d) They give him kind words.

15. Who shows the narrator paintings of ordinary things, forcing the narrator to appreciate the simplicity in them?
(a) Elstir.
(b) Albertine.
(c) Aunt Leonie.
(d) De Botton.

Short Answer Questions

1. What did Proust say about people when they used tried sayings?

2. How did Proust feel when people used trite and cliched expressions?

3. How many solutions does Proust offer for lovers to keep their love alive?

4. Who is Aunt Leonie?

5. How did Proust act with his friends?

(see the answer keys)

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