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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Commentary, Lines 1-4: I was the shadow of the waxwing slain, etc. through Line 70: the new TV.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. When did John Shade meet his wife?
(a) Their senior year of high school.
(b) 40 years ago.
(c) After his parents' funeral.
(d) During the depression.

2. Which pair best describe the prominent motifs of the first Canto?
(a) Nature and death.
(b) Nature and technology.
(c) Innocence and loss.
(d) Windows and snow.

3. In Canto Two we find that Shade's daughter had been vacationing in what faraway place?
(a) Quebec.
(b) Zembla.
(c) France.
(d) New Wye.

4. Which best describes Kinbote's reason for rejecting the offer by the first potential publisher of "Pale Fire"?
(a) He would not let Kinbote translate the poem into Zemblan.
(b) Sybil Shade would not recieve her full share of the profits.
(c) He made Kinbote responsible for any errors in the commentary.
(d) Kinbote would not have full editorial control.

5. What did Charles Kinbote do with the cat?
(a) He accidentally poisoned it.
(b) He gave it to the maid.
(c) He gave it to John Shade as a birthday gift.
(d) He wrote a poem about it.

Short Answer Questions

1. Where was the foreword written?

2. What happens to John Shade's aunt?

3. The phrase "pale fire" is used in the foreword to describe what?

4. Canto Four contains a metaphor comparing this activity to John Shade's writing process?

5. How does John Shade's daughter die?

(see the answer key)

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