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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 is Maud's suggestion for herself and Roland to read the letters?

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

3. What kind of car does Cropper drive?

4. What does Roland accidentally see?

5. Where is Christabel buried?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Roland compare Maud to Christabel?

2. How do Christabel and Ash feel about meeting secretly?

3. What is Swammerdam's situation at the end of his life?

4. How does Roland feel at the prospect of reading Christabel and Ash's letters?

5. What does Sir George plan to do at the end of the chapter?

6. What does Roland like about the library?

7. How does Fergus describe Maud?

8. Who are Ask and Embla?

9. What does Maud tell Beatrice about the importance of what she finds in Ellen's journal and papers?

10. What is Roland researching at the library?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

One of the fundamental ideas in the novel is the nature of knowledge. Discuss knowledge and unknowability in the novel.

1) How is the characters' knowledge about their poets thrown into upheaval? How does what the characters "know" differ from objective truth?

2) What knowledge do the characters have about each other? How does Roland's knowledge of Maud change over the course of the novel?

3) What does the postscript at the end of the novel say about knowledge and its limits?

Essay Topic 2

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 3

In the novel, scholars are in competition with each other, but they also must cooperate to find truths. Discuss competition versus cooperation in the novel.

1) Why do the characters keep information to themselves, as a possession? Why does Roland keep the letters, and why does Cropper "steal" photos of other letters of Ash? How does secrecy affect knowledge, both of the individual and society?

2) Why is Roland and Maud's picture of Ash and LaMotte incomplete without information from others? If they did not go to other scholars for cooperation, how would their final knowledge be different?

3) How does Cropper's attitude toward cooperation and competition differ from the other scholars in the novel?

(see the answer keys)

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