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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. The narrator states in Part 2, Chapter 2, “I dimly evoke that Magnolia Garden in a southern state which cost me four bucks and which, according to the ad in the book, you must visit for three reasons.” The first of these reasons is because what “stone-dead writer of sorts” acclaimed it as the world’s fairest garden?

2. When H.H. asks Lolita’s school friend about what kind of boys Lolita knows in Part 2, Chapter 9, the girl replies that they are rivals for whose affections?

3. What does H.H. buy for Lolita for her fifteenth birthday in Part 2, Chapter 12?

4. How many times does H.H. say he visited Lolita at the hospital in Part 2, Chapter 22?

5. When Lolita becomes ill in Part 2, Chapter 22, H.H. says he immediately thinks of what, “as any American parent would”?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Vladimir Nabokov demonstrate irony in Part 2, Chapter 2?

2. What does H.H. remark about the poem he has written in Part 2, Chapter 25?

3. What does Miss Pratt advise H.H. regarding his stepdaughter’s sexual education in Part 2, Chapter 11?

4. What does Miss Pratt suggest regarding Lolita’s performance in the drama department in Part 2, Chapter 11? How does H.H. respond?

5. How does the narrator characterize Lolita’s demeanor in Part 2, Chapter 1?

6. Where does Lolita claim to have been during her absence in Part 2, Chapter 19? How does H.H. respond?

7. What does H.H. surmise about the play that Lolita is performing in, in Part 2, Chapter 13?

8. What does Lolita’s school friend write to her in Part 2, Chapter 19? What happens as H.H. reads the letter?

9. Why does H.H. regret not going to Mexico in Part 2, Chapter 3?

10. How does the narrator describe the conflicts and resolutions between himself and Lolita in Part 2, Chapter 2?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the publication history of Lolita, controversies after its publication, the banning of the novel, and the criticism, biography, and works of author Vladimir Nabokov. Where did Nabokov choose to first have Lolita published? Why? How did critics respond to the controversial subject matter of the novel?

Essay Topic 3

Describe and analyze the death of Charlotte Haze in the novel. How does Charlotte die? What elements of foreshadowing has the author used to indicate this event? What shifts does the narrative take during the moments before Charlotte’s death? How do these transitions serve to develop tension?

(see the answer keys)

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