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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. Kinbote recounts a walk with John Shade. On this walk Kinbote unsuccessfully tries to pry from Shade information about which of the following topics?

2. Kinbote fills in a blank space in "Pale Fire" with what name?

3. Whose letter reveals the king's location to Gradus?

4. Who tells Kinbote the Shades' vacation destination?

5. Who does John Shade address in line 246 which ends "...my dear"

Short Essay Questions

1. Give a brief account of the events involving Disa and King Charles after the revolution.

2. Why does Kinbote insist on meeting Shade on July 19th?

3. What is ironic about Kinbote criticizing Shade for using a title from another work for one of his own books?

4. How does Gradus learn the location of the king?

5. What does Kinbote write about in the commentary as the poem addresses Hazel's death?

6. What does Kinbote relate to the death of Hazel?

7. How does Kinbote respond when a professor tells him he looks like King Charles? Why might he react that way?

8. Briefly summarize the conversation Kinbote overhears between Shade and Mrs. Hurley, and its relevance to "Pale Fire."

9. How does Kinbote describe the Russian guards who are after the Zemblan Crown Jewels?

10. What happens when Gradus and his commanders try to send coded messages?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

At what point in the novel did you suspect Charles Kinbote was not mentally sound?

How does his dementia progress throughout the novel?

How does his grasp of reality change the way you perceive the events of the novel?

Do you think Zembla is a real place in the world created by Nabokov in Pale Fire, or a figment of Charles Kinbote's imagination?

Essay Topic 2

How does Nabokov use references of other literary works in his novel Pale Fire? Give as many examples of references to other works as you can from the text, and describe what Nabokov accomplishes by including them in the novel.

Essay Topic 3

Reflection is a major motif of the fictional poem "Pale Fire," and in the novel's commentary and foreword.

Give specific examples of Nabokov's use of reflection as it pertains to looking back at past events?

How does Nabokov use reflection in terms of mirror images or opposites?

How do these two interpretations of reflection work together in Shade's writing, and Kinbote's commentary?

(see the answer keys)

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