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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 Cincinnatus think when the scratching noises pause and then continue?

2. What happens to the scratching noises when Cincinnatus makes noise?

3. What do the guards bring Cincinnatus instead of hot chocolate to drink?

4. Who comes through the tunnel?

5. Where will the execution take place?

Short Essay Questions

1. What reason does Pierre give Cincinnatus for pretending to be a prisoner?

2. How does Pierre act during his chess game with Cincinnatus?

3. Describe what happens to Cincinnatus's cell when the tunnel is completed.

4. What did Cecilia C. ask Marthe for, and what was Marthe's response?

5. How does Cincinnatus respond to Pierre's speech?

6. What does Pierre do after the party starts breaking up, before heading back to the prison?

7. What is on the list of acceptable last requests that Pierre reads?

8. What does the librarian do when Cincinnatus tries to express his true thoughts?

9. What does Pierre do, when the party moves outside at the meeting between Cincinnatus, Pierre, and the city officials?

10. What inconsistency in Cecilia C.'s clothes does Cincinnatus point out?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

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 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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