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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. How many minutes late for dinner with Ivan is Peter?

2. What maneuver does Ivan reflect on being “refuted”?

3. How old is Peter’s father at his death?

4. How many years older than Ivan is Peter?

5. How old is Ivan when the novel begins?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Margaret accept Ivan’s initial invitation to join him in his lodgings?

2. Why does Peter make a point of smiling at children and the elderly?

3. How does Peter define having ideals?

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

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

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

7. What is Ivan’s demonstration in Leitrim?

8. To what does Ivan ascribe his social difficulties?

9. With what does Naomi assume Peter has been occupied at the beginning of the novel?

10. Why had Ivan’s father called Alexei his home help?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Sources attest to the presence of Intermezzo on best-seller lists. Assuming that sales figures reflect popularity, what accounts for the popularity of the novel? How does it do so?

Essay Topic 2

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?

Essay Topic 3

Conversely, given demonstrated efforts toward censorship in a number of countries, what would likely prompt bans of Intermezzo? By which groups? Why?

(see the answer keys)

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