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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 is Harry's occupation?

2. Where does Manuel keep all of his new birds?

3. What is Lina's mood whenever the narrator's lovers come to visit?

4. What is significant about the mysterious man standing behind the woman at the Russian's execution?

5. What sort of men tend to be attracted to Dorothy and her strength?

Short Essay Questions

1. In the story "The Maja," why did Novalis marry Maria and how does this affect their marriage?

2. Describe Robert and Dorothy's relationship from the time to they meet until the time they first make love.

3. Describe Dorothy and Edna in "Two Sisters."

4. What are the only ways Manuel can become aroused?

5. Why is Lina angry about the narrator's lovers?

6. For what reasons, in the woman's story, are the people so stirred up about the impending execution of the Russian radical?

7. Describe the night Louis shares with the woman he swims with during "the Woman on the Dunes."

8. For what reasons does Edna begin to find her self-confidence again after becoming estranged from Harry?

9. How is Maria finally able to overcome her aversion to sensuality?

10. How do Novalis and Maria begin to grow apart?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the characters' sexual awakenings in the following format:

Part 1) The repression of several characters.

Part 2) These characters' interactions with others. How does this affect their relationships?

Part 3) Their pride and resistance to breaking through their repression.

Part 4) The hypocritically repressed.

Part 5) The characters after they have experienced their sexual awakenings.

Develop a clear thesis statement and cite specific examples from the text to support your answers.

Essay Topic 2

Why is this book called "Little Birds?" How does the title relate to the activities in the title story of this book? How does this theme relate to other characters and situations? Why is it significant that a collection of erotic stories should choose to have this connotation? In what ways does this help to subvert the idea that this book is merely pornography? Cite specific examples from the text to support your answers.

Essay Topic 3

How is sexual repression depicted in this book? How does a sexually repressed childhood (with conflicting messages) affect Dorothy and Edna of "Two Sisters?" Why is Lina repressed, despite her reciprocated attraction to her female friend? What about Maria from "the Maja?" How does this affect her marriage to Novalis and how does it affect his art? What do all of the repressed characters have in common? What changes their outlook on sex by the end of the stories and how does it fundamentally seem to change them?

(see the answer keys)

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