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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. How does the narrator describe Bloch's manners in "Place-Names: The Place, Part II"?

2. How much time passes between "Place-names" and "Place-Names: The Place, Part I"?

3. How do the narrator and his grandmother travel to Balbec in "Place-Names: The Place, Part I"?

4. While visiting Saint-Loup in "Guermantes Way, Part I," what does the narrator talk about with the soldiers?

5. What does Elstir do in the arts?

Short Essay Questions

1. Which of Elstir's paintings catches the attention of the narrator in "Seascape, with Frieze of Girls"?

2. What does the narrator do the first time he meets Gisele?

3. What happens the first time the narrator meets Albertine?

4. What happens when Saint-Loup's mother arrives at Mme. de Villeparisis's party?

5. What happens the first time the narrator sees the group of six girls in "Seascap, with Frieze of Girls"?

6. How does Saint-Loup get along with servants?

7. In "Place-Names: The Place, Part II," what happens when Saint-Loup and the narrator dine with the Bloch family?

8. How does the narrator feel before leaving for his trip to Balbec?

9. What happens the first time the narrator meets Marquise Robert de Saint-Loup?

10. When visiting Elstir's studio in Balbec, why does the narrator want to go to the beach?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How is Paris a character in this novel? How do the characters respond to the city of Paris? What does Paris represent and embody? How does going to Paris and leaving Paris help to develop the novel?

Essay Topic 2

Mme. Swann is a woman with a reputation. Explain how her reputation creates her value in the eyes of the other characters. What does she symbolize for her society and times?

Essay Topic 3

How does the narrator's relationship with Gilberte mirror the relationship between M. Swann and Odette? Where do they differ? What is the literary value in paralleling these relationships? What is the lesson the author creates?

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