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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. From what hotel does the protagonist’s brother call her with news about their father?

2. How old does the protagonist report being when she learned to read?

3. What name does the protagonist give to the “presence beyond the gate” (106)?

4. In which of the following does the protagonist’s father die?

5. With which historian does the protagonist note conversing?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the interlocutor explain the proscription against potentially entangling items at Stella Maris?

2. What does the protagonist note is commonly the most interesting thing about philosophers?

3. What reason does the protagonist give for not pursuing many romantic relationships?

4. How does the protagonist respond to being asked if she is a sex worker?

5. What hope in solving topological problems does the protagonist note?

6. What “old saw in racing” does the protagonist report (165-66)?

7. Why does the protagonist object to being put on antipsychotic medication?

8. For what reason does the novel note the protagonist had previously been placed on suicide watch?

9. How does the protagonist report initially attempting to distract herself from her hallucinations?

10. What doubt about the protagonist does the interlocutor voice?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

While the novel is told from a third-person perspective, much of it is narrated by the protagonist rehearsing events to an interlocutor. How reliable is the protagonist of the novel as a narrator? What in the text indicates that reliability, and how does it do so?

Essay Topic 2

Explicate the significance of the name of any one character in the text.

Essay Topic 3

Explicate the significance of the novel’s title.

(see the answer keys)

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