View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Mandra do to Mary?

2. What does Faye finally request of Albert?

3. Upon her return to New York, where does the narrator/model find some modeling work?

4. How does Rango help Hilda overcome her learned responses to sex?

5. Why is the narrator/model unable to find modeling work in the country?

Short Essay Questions

1. In what ways is Mary described as being intensely sexual, yet frigid?

2. How does Rango treat Hilda after their first, failed sexual encounter?

3. Why does the painter in "The Queen" claim to like women such as Bijou?

4. Describe the contrasts (physical and personality-wise) between Jan and Laura.

5. For what reasons is the narrator and the mysterious man at the end of "A Model" drawn together, eventually becoming lovers?

6. Describe Rango.

7. In "A Model," why does the narrator become a model?

8. What happens when Fay demands Albert make love to her?

9. In "The Chanchiquito", what happens to the old lady in Laura's uncle's story?

10. How are Paul and Miriam full of "aristocratic impudence?"

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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?

Essay Topic 2

In what ways is innocence and curiosity seen as a sexually attractive trait in some of these stories? Compose an essay on this topic and develop a clear thesis statement. Discuss the characters who have these traits, as well as the characters who become attracted to them, and the outcomes of their relationships. Certain stories that should definitely be focused on (but not exclusively) include "Little Birds" and "Runaway." Cite specific examples from the text to support your answers.

Essay Topic 3

Compare and contrast the characters of Bijou and Mary? Why is it significant that both women are depicted as being highly promiscuous? Why is it important to note that descriptions of these characters are filtered through the perceptions of people who are attracted to them (and, in Bijou's case, infuriated by her)? In what way is Mary able to break out of her role? Why are both women depicted as being so unhappy? How does this reflect upon the people who pursue relationships with them? Cite specific examples from the text to support your answers.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,298 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample