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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Of the following, which most accurately describes the lines in the first stanza of Canto One?
(a) They are written in ryhming couplets.
(b) They are symetrical.
(c) They have the same number of words
(d) They lack punctuation

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

3. Kinbote leaves his blinds open to give him a better view of what?
(a) The library.
(b) The Shade's living room.
(c) The gardener.
(d) Garden Avenue.

4. Charles Kinbote criticizes an article written by Professor Hurley for what reason?
(a) It does not mention Zembla.
(b) The article is critical of John Shade.
(c) The article doesn't mention Kinbote and Shade's friendship.
(d) The article does not mention "Pale Fire."

5. A fellow-professor calls Charles Kinbote by what nickname?
(a) The Great Beaver.
(b) The King of Zembla.
(c) Gerald Emerald.
(d) Prof. C.

6. What is the name of the secret group that sends an assassin after King Charles?
(a) The Extreme.
(b) The Marxists.
(c) The Freudians.
(d) The Shadows.

7. Charles Kinbote thinks the reference to "that crystal land" in line 12 refers to what place?
(a) Zembla.
(b) Russia.
(c) Quebec.
(d) New Wye.

8. Once King Charles is outside his room he must escape from what part of the castle?
(a) The theater.
(b) The kitchen.
(c) The tower.
(d) The basement.

9. How do the extremists think King Charles will try to escape Zembla?
(a) By plane.
(b) By boat.
(c) By car.
(d) On foot.

10. What event causes John Shade to have a vision of the afterlife?
(a) He is hit by a car.
(b) He has a heart attack.
(c) He gets lost in the Zemblan Mountains without food or water.
(d) He suffers a stroke.

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

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

13. What happens to John Shade's aunt?
(a) She has a heart attack and dies.
(b) She has a stroke and is moved to a sanitarium.
(c) She falls down the stairs and breaks her hip.
(d) She drowns in a lake.

14. How many lines are in Canto Four?
(a) 334 lines.
(b) 999 lines.
(c) 166 lines.
(d) 165 lines.

15. Of the following, what do John Shade and the assassin have in common?
(a) They were both born in Russia.
(b) They both had aunts who were put in an asylum.
(c) They both were orphaned.
(d) They were both Zemblan kings.

Short Answer Questions

1. During what time of day does John Shade prefer to write?

2. Which of the following best describes a recurring theme in the first Canto?

3. Charles Kinbote assumes John Shade wanted to write a great deal more about Zembla, but did not. Who or what does Kinbote attribute this too?

4. 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?"

5. Kinbote is steadfast in his assertion that "Pale Fire" was intended to be how many lines long?

(see the answer keys)

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