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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 does Hans Castorp ride to ascend the Alps?

2. How does Hans feel about his cigars losing their flavor?

3. When does Hans feel healthy?

4. Who does Hans hallucinate about?

5. Who thinks that music can perform the reasonable function of measuring time?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Settembrini feel about music?

2. How does Joachim say death and illness are treated at the Berghof?

3. How does Hans tell Joachim that he feels about death in Chapter 4?

4. Who does Hans meet during his first few weeks at the Berghof?

5. Why does Settembrini interrupt his learned banter at the end of Chapter 3?

6. What annoys Hans during first breakfast in Chapter 3?

7. Near the end of Chapter 3, what does Hans say about work?

8. Who do Hans and Joachim encounter during their walk, and what does he say?

9. Describe Hans and Settembrini's conversation at the beginning of Chapter 5.

10. What do Hans and Joachim do on Sunday in Chapter 4?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Choose one of the main themes in this novel (mountains and magic, connection to "Death in Venice", illness and death, etc..) and detail its recurrences throughout the novel. What does it add to the novel? How does it affect the difference characters?

Essay Topic 2

How is foreshadowing used in "The Magic Mountain"? Choose one major instance of foreshadowing and follow it through the book, finishing with how the event is fulfilled.

Essay Topic 3

How does the setting of the novel affect the characters and their actions? What is Mann suggesting about the setting?

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