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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. At what time do Katie and Eve arrive back home the night they meet Tinker?

2. In what way is Hank related to Tinker?

3. In what type of residence do Eve and Katey live once they live together?

4. In Chapter 7, Eve and Tinker return from a vacation in what location?

5. To what location does Eve take Tinker when she wants to impress him?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the narrator's character and situation within 1938.

2. What is Katey's reaction when she receives the correspondence from Eve in Palm Beach?

3. Discuss an example when Towles uses a simile within the novel's narrative and discuss its effects.

4. What is significant about Eve's correction of Katey's toast in Chapter 9?

5. In what way is the theme of unfulfilled wishes depicted at some point within Chapters 1 through 5?

6. For what reason do Katey and Eve have to "start improvising" (17) on New Year's Eve?

7. What is the symbolism inherent in the character of Nathaniel Parrish, as he is featured within Chapter 12?

8. In what way is the theme of family bonds depicted in Tinker's comments about his brother Hank?

9. Discuss the significance of the as-yet-unnamed narrator's comment that "It happens to all of us. It's just a question of how many stops it takes" (5).

10. In what way does the theme of deception enter the narrative within Katey's scenes with Charlotte in Chapter 7?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss how and why the author instills three different humanist messages into the narrative of Amor Towles's novel Rules of Civility.

Essay Topic 2

William Faulkner once famously claimed that the most important literature deals with the subject of the human heart in conflict with itself. Explain how the theme of Human versus Self is demonstrated within Amor Towles's novel Rules of Civility. Create a decisive, arguable claim and prove it with quotes from the novel.

Essay Topic 3

Write a critical essay about Amor Towles's novel Rules of Civility while using the critical power theory lens of feminist theory. Use textual evidence to back up your strong, specific claim regarding the novel's treatment of gender roles, the objectification of women, female empowerment, misogyny's role within society, or any other issues related to feminist theory that can be found in the novel.

(see the answer keys)

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