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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. According to Kinbote, who gives Gradus a ride?
2. Who is Kinbote's primary source of information on John Shade's daughter?
3. How many times did Kinbote find Zembla directly mentioned?
4. According to Kinbote, where did the Queen go when Zembla was invaded?
5. Kinbote believes who will be punished by God?
Short Essay Questions
1. What does Kinbote write about in the commentary as the poem addresses Hazel's death?
2. Briefly recount Gradus' experience on the day he killed Shade, as told by Kinbote.
3. Comment on a few similarities between Charles Kinbote and King Charles.
4. How does Kinbote respond when a professor tells him he looks like King Charles? Why might he react that way?
5. What does Kinbote relate to the death of Hazel?
6. Who does Disa mirror in Kinbote's life?
7. What do you think of Kinbote's disregard for psychoanalysis?
8. How does Kinbote portray Hazel, and the scene in the barn?
9. How does Gradus learn the location of the king?
10. What is ironic about Kinbote criticizing Shade for using a title from another work for one of his own books?
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
On page 156, in the commentary to Line 172, John Shade bemoans the way most of his students read and interpret literature.
Relate Shade's thoughts in the final paragraph on page 156 to the way Kinbote interprets the poem "Pale Fire."
How does Kinbote respond to Shade's commentary?
What does this tell us about Kinbote?
Essay Topic 3
The first lines of the poem "Pale Fire" portrays a bird flying into a window. Charles Kinbote interprets these lines as they may relate to John Shade's experience.
How is Charles Kinbote like a bird who flies into a window?
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This section contains 728 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) |
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