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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 Russians search for what Zemblan treasure?

2. Who tells Kinbote the Shades' vacation destination?

3. According to Kinbote, what is the best part of Canto Four?

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

5. At his hotel Gradus receives orders from headquarters telling him to do what?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Comment on a few similarities between Charles Kinbote and King Charles.

3. What is significant about the way Shade relates his name to the word "ombre" a French word that connotes shadows and darkness?

4. What does Kinbote do when he runs into Shade on the way to the doctor's office?

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

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

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

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

9. How does Kinbote portray Hazel, and the scene in the barn?

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

In the commentary to Line 171 Gradus, the assassin, is said to have had a job at a glass factory.

Could this be a figment of Charles Kinbote's imagination, and if so why would Kinbote make up such a job for the assassin?

Why do you think Nabokov chose to have Kinbote give Gradus this job?

Why does Nabokov choose to have Kinbote portray Gradus as a failure at this job?

Does it matter if Gradus really had such a job?

Use specific examples from the text to support your claims.

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

Discuss the assonance and consonance in the poem "Pale Fire." How does Nabokov use these literary tools throughout the poem?

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