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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why does Michel grow to respect and love his wife during his illness?
(a) He appreciates her artwork.
(b) For her practicality and kindness in nursing him back to health.
(c) She has a beautiful voice and sings to him while he is sick.
(d) He knows she will have to make a living for the family.

2. What does Michel tell his wife he is doing while she walks ahead when they visit their new walking place?
(a) Breathing exercises in the fresh air.
(b) Resting in the shade.
(c) Meeting lots of new boys.
(d) Playing marbles with the children.

3. Where do Michel and his wife settle down for him to resume his studies?
(a) Rome.
(b) Syracuse.
(c) Paris.
(d) Malta.

4. What does Michel's weakened condition show him?
(a) Little things he's taken for granted before.
(b) How to make shadow puppets as he lies in bed.
(c) That he does not love his new wife.
(d) That he hates school.

5. What contributes to the delicate health Michel experiences early in the story?
(a) Lack of fresh fruits and vegetables.
(b) His sheltered and sedentary life.
(c) Lack of money for regular doctor visits.
(d) His dislike of sunlight.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why does Michel prefer to take his walks alone?

2. In Part 1, Chapter 9, where do Michel and his wife decide to visit before going home?

3. What surprises Michel about the work he and his father do together?

4. What does Michel ask the barber to do in Part 1, Chapter 7?

5. How old is Michel's wife when they marry?

Short Essay Questions

1. Where does Michel begin sleeping in Part 2, Chapter 3, and why?

2. How does the reader know that Michel has no interest initially in the operation of the family estate?

3. What repulses Michel when he walks in on Marceline nursing an Arab boy in their hotel room? What does this prove regarding Michel's growing interest in boys?

4. What two events give Michel and Marceline a feeling of a commitment from their marriage?

5. When is the novel written and what time period serves as the novel's setting?

6. Describe how Michel spends his days and nights upon returning to Biskra with Marceline.

7. Michel feels beautiful, strong, and sensual for the first time. For what possible reasons might he have decided to shave his beard?

8. What do Michel and Menalque do during their last visit?

9. What does the fact that Michel accepts a teaching job signify to the story?

10. Why does Michel want to travel in Part 3?

(see the answer keys)

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