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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 color shirt is Ivan wearing when Margaret meets him?

2. What does Ivan order at the pub after his exhibition in Leitrim?

3. From whom is the epigraph taken?

4. Which of the following candies would Peter get Ivan in the hospital during their father’s final illness?

5. With what piece does a ten-year-old make a mistake while playing against Ivan?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why had Ivan thought about cancelling his chess exhibition in Leitrim?

2. What part of the Gospels does Sylvia note confuses her?

3. Why had one of his clients refused to pay Ivan?

4. What does Anna talk to Margaret about regarding mosquitos?

5. How does Peter understand the quality of the suit Ivan wears at their father’s funeral?

6. Why does Ivan avoid closely contemplating his competition performance before giving it?

7. Why is Sylvia reluctant to discuss her physical condition?

8. How does Naomi respond to online comments threatening her?

9. Why does Margaret ask Ivan not to discuss their first night together?

10. Why does Peter initially decline to contest eviction orders against Naomi?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

To what genre other than psychological fiction might Intermezzo be considered to belong? What in the text supports that identification? How does it do so?

Essay Topic 2

Consider Ivan’s recollection of his conversation with Sylvia about green hats and sisters (261-63). Does Ivan’s logic check out? Does his reasoning more fully? How or how not?

Essay Topic 3

One question the novel addresses is the extent to which, to borrow a cliché, age is just a number. Ultimately, what answer does the novel arrive at? How does the text support that answer?

(see the answer keys)

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