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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 language does Marana confess that he cannot read?

2. In "Outside the Town of Malbork," for whom is the main character working?

3. What must a book have for Lotaria to enjoy it?

4. What is considered the language of the dead?

5. Where does the main character of "Leaning from the Steep Slope" walk every day?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the reader's interaction with the "other reader."

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

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

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

5. What do the reader and Ludmilla agree upon in Chapter 4?

6. Describe the novel "Without Fear of Wind or Vertigo."

7. Who is Ermes Marana?

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

9. Describe the narrator of "Leaning from the Steep Slope."

10. Why does Ludmilla read?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe the battle for language in the novel. How do the two sides continue to fight? How does the battle still affect those who read? What tone does the battle set for the novel?

Essay Topic 2

Compare and contrast Marana and Flannery. How are these two characters similar and different? How do they have different but similar goals? How are both reflections of the author, Calvino?

Essay Topic 3

Describe Lotaria's character. What motivates Lotaria? What is her purpose in the novel? Is she a protagonist or an antagonist? Why? Cite two pieces of evidence from the novel.

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