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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 does the judge deliver Cincinnatus' sentence?

2. Where does Pierre say he is from?

3. What does Cincinnatus see in the morning papers?

4. What does Cincinnatus do to try and look out the window?

5. What is dirtying the lawyer's back?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Cincinnatus hear in the prison hallway?

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

3. What types of dreams do the prison rules disallow?

4. Describe Cincinnatus's walk through the prison staircase.

5. What relatives does Marthe bring with her the first time she visits Cincinnatus in prison?

6. After telling his "joke," what does Pierre say about how Cincinnatus looks?

7. What does Emmie do with the water jug in Cincinnatus' cell?

8. What does Cincinnatus hope to get out of seeing Marthe?

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

10. What causes Cincinnatus to finally be caught?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Many things in the novel are superficial or fake. Discuss the role of superficiality and falseness in the novel.

1) How is superficiality a part of the culture of the novel?

2) What items in Cincinnatus' surroundings such as in his prison and his cell are fake? What do these fake items signify? How does Cincinnatus perceive them?

3) How are the people surrounding Cincinnatus fake? Why does he perceive them as unreal? What would make a person real to Cincinnatus?

Essay Topic 2

Constructed reality is an important element in the novel, where "reality" is very flexible and tenuous. Discuss constructed reality in the novel.

1) How does society in the novel create its own reality? How is the culture that Cincinnatus lives in inherently unreal, and merely an agreed upon way of living created by the people of the society?

2) How does Cincinnatus create his own reality? How much control does Cincinnatus have over reality?

3) How "real" is constructed reality? How much power does it have over Cincinnatus and other characters? Is there a "truer" reality below the surface as Cincinnatus seems to feel?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss deception in the novel.

1) In what ways is Cincinnatus deceived throughout the novel? How does Pierre deceive him? How does Rodrig deceive him? How does Emmie deceive him? How does Marthe deceive him?

2) How does Cincinnatus react to being deceived? Does he let himself be deceived? How does he respond when he knows he's been deceived?

3) Does Cincinnatus deceive himself? How?

(see the answer keys)

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