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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 Booth object to in Maryna's performance the same evening?

2. What lesson does Bogdan admit to learning from running the commune?

3. Who is waiting for Maryna when she arrives in San Francisco?

4. What does Wanda do while the others are touring the land?

5. Who is supposed to be the great actor of the family?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Maryna meet Miss Collingridge? When do they meet a second time? What happens after this second meeting?

2. In Chapter Six, the communal group begins to break up. Where do people go? Does anyone join another commune? Do any of the group remain in California?

3. In his love letter to Maryna in which he asks her to travel with him, Ryzard refers to Jack Goodyear, a squatter Ryszard has met in the mountains. Jack Goodyear explains to Ryszard that "sometimes it seems to him as though there were two Jacks." What does Goodyear mean by this?

4. Maryna hires Eliza Withington to take a photograph of the group. Why does she do this? What conversation takes place between Eliza and Maryna after the photo shoot? How does the photo turn out?

5. How does Maryna define utopia? How does it compare to a marriage in her mind?

6. Maryna and her family travel back to Poland to see their friends and family. How does the author tell the story of their trip? What comes across in the description of the visit? What important pieces of information are presented?

7. In Chapter Seven, Bogdan injures himself and cannot come to San Francisco. What happens between Ryszard and Maryna? How do they change? What happens to their relationship by the end of the chapter?

8. Ryszard offers to take Bogdan and Maryna on a trip to San Bernardinos. Does Bogdan go on the trip? How does he feel about Maryna and Ryzsard alone on the trip?

9. In Chapter Six, many of the characters take on new names. Who are they and what are their new names? How does Maryna react to this change?

10. In Chapter Eight, Bogdan explains to Maryna he saw a flying machine on the beach in California. Who is with Bogdan when he sees the plane? Who owns the plane? What does it look like? What is the significance of Bogdan's interest in a flying machine?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Opposite the title page, the author states the story is a work of fiction based on a true story. On what story has Sontag based her novel? What does she admire about Helena Modjeska, based on her characterization of Maryna?

Essay Topic 2

The story is told through many voices: the narrator, letters, soliloquies, conversations. The reader sees the main characters through many eyes and ears. Why has the author chosen this style to tell the story? Does it work? Is the reader able to get a well rounded view of the main characters? How else might have the author gone about telling this story?

Essay Topic 3

Edwin Booth's monologue finishes the novel. He has not been a character in the book, nor does he know any of the characters in the novel except Maryna. Why has the author chosen to end the book on this note? Is there a climax to the novel, and if so, where did it take place?

(see the answer keys)

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