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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. In Chapter 6, what does Adriaan want to bring to Jana's?

2. What is the nature of the Court, according to the narrator?

3. What is the narrator late for in Chapter 6?

4. In the end of Chapter 2, who calls the narrator?

5. What does the narrator have to translate for the accused in Chapter 5?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Kees make the narrator uncomfortable in Chapter 3?

2. Why is the narrator unsettled when she arrives at Jana's for her dinner with Jana and Adriaan?

3. What does translation and interpretation require, according to the narrator?

4. Why does Adriaan ask the narrator not to move to Jana's neighborhood?

5. What is the main business in The Hague?

6. Why is the accused jihadist late in arriving at the detention center?

7. Why is it a significant step for Jana to own her own apartment?

8. What does the narrator think of Jana's new neighborhood?

9. What does the narrator buy at the antique bookshop in Chapter 7?

10. What trip does Adriaan tell the narrator he is taking in Chapter 7 that could have major consequences for their relationship?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Why and when does the narrator come to feel that the person she most understands is the former president who is on trial in The Hague, following Adriaan's departure to Lisbon? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 2

How does the narrator react to the young woman who acts as a witness to the former president's crimes? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 3

What are the major sources of the narrator's discomfort during her first assignment with the well-known jihadist at the detention center at the beginning of the novel? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

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