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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. What does Blackadder do when Roland tells him about the notes in the book?

2. Who do Joan and George Bailey invite to read the letters between Ash and Christabel?

3. How did Ellen Ash feel about Christabel?

4. How does Christabel react to her feelings of love with Ash?

5. What condition does Beatrice impose on Roland reading Ellen Ash's journals?

Short Essay Questions

1. What do Roland and Maud do on their day trip?

2. Who is responsible for ending the affair between Christabel and Ash?

3. How does Cropper feel about Blackadder?

4. What is Roland researching at the library?

5. What is Roland's initial reaction to the letters?

6. What is Maud's dilemma about Leonora?

7. What, in her own life, does Val compare Roland's work to?

8. Who are Ask and Embla?

9. What does Roland read at the end of the chapter?

10. What are Maud and Roland concerned might happen to their find in Christabel's room?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The novel deals with perceptions of women, and women's relationships with men. Discuss perceptions of women in the novel.

1) Why is Christabel unwilling to enter into a relationship with Ash? Why does she perceive a relationship with a man as infringing on her identity and independence?

2) How is Maud perceived as a woman, and how does this affect her life? How do women's appearances in the novel affect their relationships and identities?

3) How is Beatrice Nest perceived, and how are perceptions of her related to gender?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the metaphoric meanings in LaMotte and Ash's poems and stories as presented in the novel.

1) What is the meaning of "The Threshold," and why is it placed where it is in the story?

2) What is the meaning of the portion of "The Fairy Melusine" in the novel, and why is it placed where it is?

3) What are the meanings of the portions of "Mummy Possest" and "Swammerdam" in the novel, and why are they placed where they are?

Essay Topic 3

The novel addresses how truth is defined, and that includes the characters definitions of themselves. Discuss how the characters define themselves.

1) How does Maud's hair define her and relate to her identity? Why does her hair have meaning? What meanings does it have, and to whom?

2) How does Roland define himself? How does his definition of himself change over the course of the novel?

3) How does Cropper define himself? How is Cropper's identity related to Ash?

(see the answer keys)

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