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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 question does Kees ask the narrator in Chapter 9 that unsettles her?

2. What does the witness say she does when she sees the bodies at the school in Chapter 13?

3. What does the narrator tell Eline when Eline asks if she enjoys working at the Court?

4. How many children does Eline have?

5. What does Eline say about her own ex-husband?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does the narrator move out of Adriaan's apartment in Chapter 12?

2. What does Eline tell the narrator is her relationship with Anton and his wife Miriam?

3. What story does Anton tell that reflects somewhat poorly on both him and the story's subjects?

4. What impression does the narrator form of how his colleagues regard Kees?

5. What is the narrator's impression of Anton when she first meets him?

6. Who does Jana introduce the narrator to in Chapter 10, and why?

7. In Chapter 10, what enchants the narrator about the painting she fixates on at the gallery opening?

8. What do the former president's supporters do in the courtroom in Chapter 8?

9. In Chapter 10, what does Jana tell the narrator about how she first met Eline?

10. In Chapter 7, what new assignment does the narrator get?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Why does the narrator find herself drawn to the dunes at the coast of The Hague in the later parts of the novel? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 2

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 3

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.

(see the answer keys)

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