View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who shows up unannounced at Charlie's door in Madrid?

2. What does Julius want Charlie to do if he should die on the operating table?

3. How much does Charlie tell Renata he earned for his Trenck movie rights?

4. What does Charlie tell Waldemar could be in the envelope Humboldt left for him?

5. What does Renata end up doing because Charlie has not proposed marriage?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Charlie fail to say anything when Renata tells him the operator at the Plaza called her Mrs. Citrine?

2. Why does Maggie plead Charlie's case to Stronson and get the charges dropped?

3. As Charlie thinks about oblivion and death as being all we have to expect out of this world, what options present themselves to him in order to meet this end?

4. According to Humboldt's letter to Charlie, why does Charlie figure so prominently in his obsessions?

5. How does the reader come to realize how close Humboldt must have felt towards Uncle Waldemar?

6. What are Renata's opinions about Charlie's thoughts about death?

7. Why does Naomi beg George to take her son with him to Africa?

8. What is the state of Charlie's life and state of mind in Section 16 as he lives in Madrid?

9. During Charlie's visit with Naomi, why does Naomi believe the two of them would never have made a lasting relationship together?

10. Why does Charlie believe that he cannot ask Renata to accompany him and the two older men from the nursing home out to lunch?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

While Charlie is sitting on a sofa meditating, remembering everything that had happened in minute detail, Humboldt's obituary in the New York Times comes to his mind.

What is Charlie's view on the subject of the dead and the human soul?

How do the living starve the dead of their nourishment?

What happens to the soul in the next life?

Essay Topic 2

A tenant at the Madrid pension, Rebecca, makes advances towards Charlie. What prevents Charlie from going along with her? How would she compare to the other women who have been in his life?

Essay Topic 3

In one of Charlie's conversations with Dr. Scheldt, he says, "Death is the dark backing that a mirror needs if we are to see anything."

What is the meaning of this statement?

How does the comparison of death and a mirror have special meaning to Charlie?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,112 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample