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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 made the publishing house question Marana's competency?

2. What is Galligani's profession?

3. What allows the reader to personalize the story?

4. How does the author refer to the woman the reader talks to?

5. What does Zwilda draw?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. How does Calvino bring interactivity to the book?

3. Describe "Outside the Town of Malbork."

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

5. What foreshadows a future problem in Chapter 2?

6. Describe the imagery used in "Outside the Town of Malbork."

7. For what does the reader continue to search after finding a problem with his second book?

8. How is confusion a theme in the novel?

9. Describe Cimmeria.

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What role does erasure play in the novel? Which characters are a part of the theme of erasure? How does the plot deal with erasure? How is erasure portrayed? Why is erasure significant to the novel's plot and characters?

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 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?

(see the answer keys)

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