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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. Who does the narrator's mother say she does not want to know in the Swann family?

2. In "Place-Names," where does the narrator find Gilbert they day she is not at the park?

3. How does Mme. Swann tell the narrator secrets in a way that confuses him?

4. Why does Gilberte send the narrator a copy of a Bergotte book?

5. Who visits the narrator's family most often when he is a young boy?

Short Essay Questions

1. In "Overture," when M. Swann comes for dinner, what ploy for his mother's attention does the narrator devise?

2. What does Gilberte do in "Place-Names" that makes the narrator think she might like him?

3. In "Combray," why does the narrator want to meet M. Swann's daughter?

4. What happens the night Odette tells Swann she isn't feeling well and sends him home early?

5. How does the narrator's grandmother start a fight with her family in "Overture"?

6. What happens the first two times Swann visits Odette's house?

7. What makes Bergotte see the narrator as an intellectual?

8. Why does the narrator visit his Uncle Adolphe frequently in "Combray"?

9. In "Mme. Swann at Home," how does the narrator feel about his relationship with Gilberte?

10. As a young boy how did the narrator spend his time before and after dinner?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Select three marriages in this novel and compare and contrast them. What is the commentary on marriage that this novel provides?

Essay Topic 2

How does Vinteuil's sonata work a symbol in this novel? What other pieces of music are symbolic? How do these symbols help to create the characters and plot?

Essay Topic 3

Bloch and Saint-Loup are two of the narrator's friends. What does each friend have to offer with their friendship? What events in the novel helped to further define these friendships? In what ways are these friends similar? Different? How do these friendships help create a full picture of the narrator?

(see the answer keys)

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