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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. Biologically, how is Freddy related to Carlos?

2. Besides long, which adjective is used by the narrator to describe Arthur Less's nose?

3. What does the festival organizer name as the reason he throws the festival in Mexico?

4. What was the title of Arthur Less's first novel?

5. In what decade of life had Arthur Less been when his work was first published?

Short Essay Questions

1. For what purpose has Arthur come to New York City and what is its end result?

2. What does the grandfather clock in the opening scene symbolize?

3. How do Arthur and Robert meet?

4. What is Arthur's literary agent's reaction to Arthur's latest novel?

5. What is the narrator's hypothesis about why Arthur spends nine years with Freddy?

6. What is the significance of Arthur's habit of not wearing a watch?

7. What is the actual sound being made when Arthur believes the sound of thunder to be interrupting his reveries during the Italian award ceremony?

8. What are the reasons for Arthur's exhaustion the first morning he wakes up in Mexico?

9. What is the significance of Arthur's temporary loss of the ring given to him by Robert on their fifth anniversary?

10. What is the relationship between Freddy and Carlos?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Analyze Lewis's feelings about his separation from his husband Clark after 20 years of marriage. Discuss the author's tone in describing Lewis's apparent peace with their parting. What message is the author sending about relationships and how one can measure the success of a particular relationship?

Essay Topic 2

How does the theme of isolation function within the novel and what is the author's message regarding this theme?

Essay Topic 3

William Faulkner once famously claimed that the most important literature deals with the subject of the human heart in conflict with itself. Explain how the theme of Human versus Self is demonstrated within Andrew Sean Greer's novel Less. Create a decisive, arguable claim and prove it with quotes from the book.

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This section contains 986 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample