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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 Rodrig Ivanovich say after Cincinnatus reads the letter?

2. How are the books in the library catalog listed?

3. What does M'sieur Pierre show Cincinnatus?

4. What does Cincinnatus do when he undresses at the end of his second day in prison?

5. What does Cincinnatus do outside the new prisoner's cell?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe Cincinnatus's early days with his wife.

2. What memory of his wife does Cincinnatus recall in his writing?

3. What does Cincinnatus hear in the prison hallway?

4. How does Cincinnatus' father-in-law say goodbye to him?

5. How do all the prison guards react to the new prisoner?

6. What formula about mortality does Cincinnatus give, which he says applies to everyone?

7. What reason does Cincinnatus give for needing to know the schedule for his execution?

8. What happens after Cincinnatus goes to bed, the night after the prisoner arrives?

9. Besides how long Cincinnatus has until his execution, what else does Cincinnatus want to know from his captors? What is their response?

10. After the director reads his formal speech to Cincinnatus, where does Cincinnatus go?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Absurd and surreal events occur throughout the novel. Discuss the unreality of the novel.

1) In what ways could the novel be considered surrealist? In what ways is it not surrealist?

2) Do the events of the novel reflect Cincinnatus's mind, or do they reflect an objective reality? Is Cincinnatus subconsciously in control of the events?

3) Why does the author use incongruous and dreamlike events in the novel?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the setting of the prison.

1) Why is the prison set high on a mountain? Why is Cincinnatus the only prisoner? Why is it so large and rambling, with confused passages? What does this contribute to the novel?

2) What does Cincinnatus's cell look like? What do the elements in Cincinnatus's cell represent or indicate? How is Cincinnatus's cell different from Pierre's cell?

3) Why do the cell and prison collapse when Cincinnatus is taken away to be executed?

Essay Topic 3

Cincinnatus is oppressed for being different from other people. Discuss oppression in the novel.

1) Are other people besides Cincinnatus in the novel oppressed? Are their differences from each other and from the society's accepted culture suppressed?

2) How is Cincinnatus different from the other people in his culture? In what ways is Cincinnatus oppressed, beyond his imprisonment?

3) Are Cincinnatus and the other characters complicit in their own oppression? In what ways could the characters fight against or break free of oppression?

(see the answer keys)

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