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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 do the two characters in "Looks Down in the Gathering Shadow" want to do with a dead man?

2. What do the police tell the man to do in If On a Winter's Night a Traveler?

3. Where does the reader look for answers about the story's setting in Chapter 2?

4. Which character is Irina most like?

5. Where does Zwilda stay?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the origin of the problem with the books?

2. Describe Cimmeria.

3. Describe the plot of the first book the reader has, titled If On a Winter's Night a Traveler.

4. Describe the structure of the book.

5. In Chapter 5, what new type of book does Ludmilla claim to enjoy?

6. Who or what leads the reader down the wrong path in Chapter 3?

7. Describe the reader's comments on the difference between reading and hearing somebody read aloud.

8. How is jealousy a theme in "Outside the Town of Malbork"?

9. Describe "Looks Down in the Gathering Shadow."

10. How is Cavedagna symbolic of the author of the novel, Calvino.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is the role of foreshadowing in the novel? What events are foreshadowed? What techniques are used to foreshadow events? What foreshadows the marriage between Ludmilla and the reader? Cite one specific example.

Essay Topic 2

What is the significance behind the novel titles creating a complete sentence? What does the sentence mean? What does the sentence ask the reader to contemplate?

Essay Topic 3

Cite at least three specific examples of imagery in the novel. What is the significance of imagery in a novel? What tone does imagery set for the novel?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 697 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample