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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. Which of the following medications does the interlocutor note the protagonist had taken?

2. For how much does the protagonist purchase her violin?

3. To which of the following does the protagonist compare the Manhattan Project?

4. Per the novel, how large a percentage of the general population is Jewish?

5. In which city does the interlocutor teach?

Short Essay Questions

1. What agreement is implied to exist between the protagonist and interlocutor as the main text of the novel begins?

2. What purpose for entertainment does the interlocutor posit?

3. How does the protagonist note arriving at the Kid’s height?

4. What attitude does the protagonist report her father had toward the use of atomic weapons in World War II?

5. Why does the protagonist report not investing her inheritance?

6. What vice does the protagonist admit to having?

7. What compelled the protagonist’s family to move to Wartburg?

8. Why does the protagonist report having little contact with her father’s family?

9. What is implied to have occasioned the interlocutor’s divorce?

10. How does the protagonist explain her affinity for mental health inpatients?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In discussing subatomic particles, the novel presents a seeming anachronism: the mention of the top quark (44). Why might the anachronism be present? What in the novel supports that reasoning, and how does it do so?

Essay Topic 2

In the novel, some characters are given but one name, while others are given first names and surnames, and still others are accorded names and titles. What significance, if any, accrues to patterns of naming in the novel? If no significance accrues, what purpose might be served by the patterns of naming in the novel? How does Stella Maris bear as much out?

Essay Topic 3

Stella Maris features only limited paratext, being almost completely consistent in formatting throughout the novel. Only the front matter and back matter vary. What effect does this have upon the reading, and how does the effect come across from the reading?

(see the answer keys)

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