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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. Where does the narrator say he loved “a certain initial girl-child” prior to Lolita in Part 1, Chapter 1?

2. The hotel called Enchanted Hunters is located in what town, according to the narrator in Part 1, Chapter 25?

3. Lolita shows H.H. at picture from a magazine in Part 1, Chapter 13. In the picture, a surrealist painter is relaxing on a beach near a plaster replica of what work of art?

4. What hotel does Charlotte suggests to H.H. that they go to in Part 1, Chapter 21?

5. What girl does Lolita say “instructed her in various manipulations” at camp in Part 1, Chapter 32?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does H.H. describe his suppression of his lust for young girls in Part 1, Chapter 5?

2. What events lead to H.H. and Lolita being alone together in the house in Part 1, Chapter 13? How does he describe their meeting in the house?

3. How does H.H. characterize his domestic life with Charlotte after marriage in Part 1, Chapter 18?

4. How does H.H. succeed in drugging Lolita in Part 1, Chapter 27?

5. What does H.H. relate of his first wife’s later whereabouts and death in Part 1, Chapter 8?

6. What does H.H. discover outside after receiving Leslie Tomson’s phone call in Part 1, Chapter 22?

7. What insinuations does Lolita make regarding her relationship with H.H. in Part 1, Chapter 27?

8. What solidifies H.H.’s intentions regarding Charlotte and Lolita in Part 1, Chapter 17? What action does he take?

9. How does H.H. describe his relationship with Annabel in Part 1, Chapters 2-4? What impact did this relationship have on the protagonist?

10. How does H.H. describe his experience with a young French prostitute in Part 1, Chapter 6?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss H.H. as an unreliable narrator in describing his sexual encounter with Lolita in Part 1. What do you think the reality of the situation is for the girl? How would the story differ if it were told from Lolita’s point of view? Why does Nabokov choose to tell the story from H.H.’s perspective?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss H.H.’s intentions and thoughts about murdering Charlotte. How does he portend to commit this act? What stops him? What observations does he make regarding pedophiles and murderers? Why?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss H.H.’s obsession with “nymphets” and the origins of his hebephilia. How does the narrator explain his beliefs about its origins through the character of Annabel Leigh? Do you think this is an adequate assessment? Why or why not? How might the death of H.H.’s mother contributed to his behavior?

(see the answer keys)

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