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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What book does King Charles find on his way out of the castle?
(a) A book of John Shade's poetry.
(b) Timon of Athens.
(c) Romeo and Juliet.
(d) The Bible.

2. Which of the following is not mentioned by Shade in Canto One?
(a) The sky.
(b) Dr. Sutton.
(c) The Zemblan countryside.
(d) A baseball game.

3. Which of the following most closely describes Kinbote's depiction by university drama students?
(a) A raving lunatic with no perception of reality.
(b) A pompus woman-hater with a German accent.
(c) A brilliant writer and professor who is loyal to his friend John Shade.
(d) A displaced Zemblan king on the run from assassins.

4. How old was Shade when he wrote Canto Two?
(a) 40.
(b) 80.
(c) 61.
(d) We are never told exactly, only that he is "a youth".

5. What are the two most important things in Shade's life?
(a) His wife and Charles Kinbote.
(b) His Zemblan heritage and his wife.
(c) His job as a professor and his wife.
(d) His poetry and his wife.

6. John Shade's daughter is how old at the beginning of Canto Three?
(a) We don't know exactly, only that she's a small child.
(b) 18.
(c) A senior in high school.
(d) 6 months.

7. Who does Kinbote blame for not receiving an invitation to John Shade's birthday party?
(a) John Shade.
(b) Gradus.
(c) Sybil Shade.
(d) Dr. Sutton.

8. John Shade reads an article written by this person about a woman who had a similar vision?
(a) Gerald Emerald.
(b) Charles Kinbote.
(c) The President of the IPH.
(d) Jim Coats.

9. What happened to Shade's parents when he was a boy?
(a) They put him up for adoption.
(b) They died.
(c) They divorced/seperated.
(d) They were imprisoned.

10. Which of the following has Shade renounced?
(a) His religion.
(b) His country.
(c) His friends.
(d) His family.

11. How does King Charles flee Zembla?
(a) On foot.
(b) By car.
(c) By boat.
(d) By plane.

12. King Alfin the Vague was an amateur______ .
(a) Poet.
(b) Ornothologist.
(c) Pilot.
(d) Gardener.

13. Of the following, which has been added to Shade's childhood home?
(a) A TV antenna.
(b) A chimney.
(c) A garage.
(d) Electricity.

14. John Shade vows to further explore what in Canto Two?
(a) Reincarnation vs. heaven and hell.
(b) The possibility of an afterlife.
(c) The Zemblan Kings and their Gods.
(d) The depths of human consciousness.

15. What does Kinbote give John Shade for his birthday?
(a) A book of poetry.
(b) A drawing of King Charles' castle.
(c) A gown.
(d) A chess board.

Short Answer Questions

1. During the forward Charles Kinbote oddly notes that he is distracted by who/what?

2. What did Charles Kinbote do with the cat?

3. Charles Kinbote wants the reader to see the image of who/what after reading the lines 131-132, "I was the waxing slain by feigned remoteness in the windowpane?"

4. Following the death of King Charles' mother, Queen Blenda, a seance is held for what purpose?

5. How does King Charles get out of the room where he is being held prisoner without being detected?

(see the answer keys)

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