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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 Dr. Cottard prescribe when the narrator's grandmother doesn't recognize the narrator?

2. In "Guermantes Way, Part I continued," who does not visit the grandmother?

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

4. What does Albertine give the narrator as a gift when she returns from visiting her aunt?

5. Who used to visit a house M. de Charlus discusses at dinner in Balbec with the narrator and his grandmother?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. How does Francoise act during the grandmother's illness?

3. What argument does the narrator get into with Bloch in Balbec?

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

5. How does M. de Charlus feel about the narrator's grandmother in "Place-Names: The Place, Part II"?

6. Why does the narrator want Saint-Loup to talk to Mme. Guermantes in "Guermantes Way, Part I"?

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

8. What does the narrator learn about Bergotte when he visits the grandmother during her illness?

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

10. What does Francoise do while in Balbec?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Illness is a major part of the narrator's life and the lives of several other characters. How are these illnesses used to develop the plot and characters? What do the illnesses represent? Why does the author used illness in these situations?

Essay Topic 2

How are doctors viewed by the characters in this novel? What leads to the success of a doctor? How do the doctors in this novel affect their patients and patient's families? What images are often evoked when doctors are part of the scene? What message is the author delivering about the field of medicine in this novel?

Essay Topic 3

After a period of day-dreaming about Mme. Guermantes, the narrator becomes disillusioned with her. Follow the chain of events that takes the narrator from love to indifference. What does this change mean for the narrator? What does is represent in the larger picture of his society?

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