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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 do the two women do to the man hanging from the gallows?

2. In Book VI, Stanza 2, why does Maldoror want to leave humanity?

3. Who does Maldoror leave the man in the gallows under the care of?

4. In Book IV, Stanza 2, why does Maldoror want to live among humans?

5. In Book IV, Stanza 5, why does Maldoror say he once scalped a man?

Short Essay Questions

1. How are the beetle and the man-pelican related?

2. How does Elsseneur try to seek revenge against Maldoror?

3. Why is Maldoror still alive in Book IV, Stanza 4?

4. What have men done to Maldoror in Book IV, Stanza 4?

5. How does Maldoror compare himself to the man with stolen eyes in Book IV, Stanza 5?

6. Who is Elsseneur?

7. How does Maldoror's letter to Mervyn impact Mervyn?

8. What does the narrator reflect on in Book IV, Stanza 1?

9. In Book VI, Stanza 4, what does Maldoror learn from listening in at Mervyn's door?

10. Why does Maldoror remember being angry with Falmer?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How is success defined in this poem? How is the search for success a theme? Give specific examples from the poem to support your position.

Essay Topic 2

Examine the way the poem, "Lautréamont's Maldoror" is organized. Why did the poet use these divisions? What makes these divisions effective? How are they ineffective?

Essay Topic 3

Define the term symbolism. Discuss at least three uses of symbolism throughout this poem and how the symbols effectively portray the theme.

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