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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, what is the best part of Canto Four?

2. Where does Kinbote find the term "Tangra dust?"

3. What is John Shade doing when Charles Kinbote hallucinates that he hears his voice?

4. Which of the following best describes King Charles' marriage?

5. According to Kinbote, where did the Queen go when Zembla was invaded?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. Why does Kinbote embrace organized religion?

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

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

6. What is odd about the way Kinbote tells the story of Gradus?

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

8. How does Kinbote summarize Canto Four?

9. What do you think of Kinbote's disregard for psychoanalysis?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

Throughout the novel, the game of chess reappears in various scenes, and is played by a variety of characters.

Cite specific examples Nabokov uses of the game of chess throughout the novel.

Why do you think Nabokov chooses to incorporate the game of chess into the novel the way he does?

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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