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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. Dinesen had made a few friends in Africa who were on the ________________ side in the war.

2. Dinesen became interested in Georg Brandes and ______________________.

3. Why did Wilhelm Dinesen kill himself?

4. What was Dinesen's most famous literary work?

5. With which relative did Dinesen develop a conflict?

Short Essay Questions

1. What was the nature of Dinesen's relationship with her father and how did she address her feelings of loss after his death many years later?

2. Why did Dinesen not feel any remorse about having an affair with Denys Finch Hatton?

3. How did Dinesen's childhood influence her writing, and what important theme would emerge?

4. What type of writing did Dinesen produce as a young woman, and what pen name did she use?

5. Why did Dinesen have difficulty fitting in with the aristocratic landowners in Africa?

6. Why was becoming an adult not what Dinesen expected in terms of her life's direction?

7. What was Dinesen's family's reaction to her interest in Georg Brandes and Fredrick Nietzsche?

8. Why was Dinesen so prolific in her condemnation of racism and prejudice against the Kenyan people?

9. How could Dinesen's marriage to Bror best be described?

10. How did Hans Blixen's rejection of Dinesen ironically work in her favor in terms of what her Aunt Bess wanted for her?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Create a brief character study of Isak Dinesen. What did she look like? What were her positive personality traits? What were some of her negative characteristics? What were her hopes and fears? What was her daily life like? What were her primary motivations during her life?

Essay Topic 2

Create a brief character study of Thomas Dinesen. What did he look like? What were his positive personality traits? What were some of his negative characteristics? What do we know of him? What were his hopes and fears? What were his primary motivations during his life?

Essay Topic 3

Explain the significance of the book's title. Why is it called simply "Isak Dinesen: The Life of a Storyteller"? What was Judith Thurman trying to emphasize with this emphatic style? Suggest three alternate titles for this book with supporting rationale for each.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 953 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample