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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 title did Dinesen attain after her marriage?

2. What did Dinesen and Bror do after Thomas left the farm?

3. What relation was Dinesen's fiance to the man she loved?

4. In which of the following arts was Dinesen NOT adept?

5. Most of Dinesen's work was created in which literary style?

Short Essay Questions

1. Where did Dinesen study art formally and why was the experience disappointing for her?

2. How did Bror react to Dinesen's affair with Denys?

3. How did being a woman challenge Dinesen's writing career?

4. Describe Dinesen's relationship with her sisters.

5. What was the nature of the conflict between Dinesen and her Aunt Bess?

6. Describe the contentious relationship Dinesen had with her brother, Thomas?

7. How did World War I put even more strain on Dinesen's relationships with the aristocratic landowners?

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

9. 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?

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

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.

Essay Topic 2

Create a brief character study of Bror Blixen. What did he look like? What was his family background? What were his positive personality traits? What were some of his negative characteristics? What were his hopes and fears? What were his primary motivations during his life?

Essay Topic 3

Who was Thorkild Bjornvig and what role did he play in Isak Dinesen's life? Why was Bjornvig so important to Dinesen? Why did the relationship between the two end so disastrously?

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