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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. Who does Moran think will be blamed for the murder?

2. What did Moran give Martha after his instructions for a four o’clock mean angered her?

3. Who does Moran tell the farmer he was on the way to visit?

4. What did Moran send his son to buy in the town of Hole?

5. How does Moran say Molloy would see himself after Moran arrived?

Short Essay Questions

1. What rule does Moran say is evidenced in his decision not to let his son bring his stamp albums with him on the trip?

2. How did Martha learn that Moran and his son were going away?

3. What steps did Moran take to repair his son’s health?

4. What did Gaber tell Moran that Youdi had told him?

5. What is the first cause of tension between Moran and his son, after they leave?

6. What does Moran describe about his bees?

7. How does Part II open?

8. How does Moran resolve the question of whether Molloy is really Molloy’s name?

9. What was Moran’s reaction when he received the orders from Gaber?

10. What is Moran’s pleasure principle, and how did it affect his decisions around his departure?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What do we know about the source of Molloy’s malaise and his cultural position, and what can we extrapolate about his mindset, and any traumas he might have been formed by? What does Molloy tell us about the psychological effects of damage and trauma? What does it mean to be healthy in Molloy’s world? Is it possible?

Essay Topic 2

Molloy is a book in which Beckett has created a world for his character to live in, but it is a world that only sometimes resembles our world of experiences and observations. What are the advantages and disadvantages of creating a whole world for a character, with rules that apply only to that world, and are not even always explained? Is this an ultimately fruitful enterprise for Beckett, or does the artificiality of the enterprise work against him? Take a position on one side or the other.

Essay Topic 3

Evaluate your own reading of Molloy—did you resist it, or were you compelled by the story? What does your reading tell you about yourself and your interests? Use specific examples from the book to describe yourself as a reader.

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This section contains 1,009 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample