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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 does the narrator want to portray burning in a bookshop?

2. What does the landlord say is wrong with the old man?

3. Who is the main character of the narrator's proposed play, 'The Sign of the Cross'?

4. Which day is the narrator to meet Ylayali?

5. What is the name of the ship about which the narrator asks the cripple?

Short Essay Questions

1. What convinces the narrator that he is sane?

2. Why do Ylayali and the narrator go up to her apartment?

3. Why does the narrator not speak to the woman in black when he first sees her outside his apartment?

4. Why exactly does the narrator refuse the Chief's offer of an advance?

5. What happens when the narrator is finally kicked out?

6. Why does the narrator not eat all of his cakes?

7. Describe how the narrator leaves Ylayali's apartment.

8. Why is the captain of the Copégoro reluctant to hire the narrator, and what is his compromise?

9. Why is the narrator moved into the family room?

10. How does the narrator act towards Ylayali once they are upstairs?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the significance of the meaning of 'kuboaa'. Why is the narrator afraid it might only mean yarn? What does this tell you about his self-regard?

Essay Topic 2

Hunger is translated from Norwegian to English. How much meaning can a book lose through a translation? What aspects of the book do you think would be the most difficult to express in English? How do you think a translator can overcome these difficulties?

Essay Topic 3

Fantasy plays a large role in this novel. Discuss the narrator and Ylayali's fantasies of one another. How do they differ from reality? How do you think they affect the character's actions?

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