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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. Where does the couple go at the beginning of Chapter 4?

2. What brings the parents to the room at the end of Chapter 2?

3. What does the narrator contemplate doing in Chapter 3?

4. What effect does the startling event at the beginning of Chapter 4 have on Simone?

5. What does the narrator note he is frightened of?

Short Essay Questions

1. Explain what Marcelle does during the orgy, and once the narrator lets her go.

2. Describe the first meeting in Chapter 3 between Simone and the narrator following the orgy.

3. How do the parents find out about the orgy, and what do the parents do when they discover what has occurred?

4. How is the violence of the thunderstorm linked to the violence of the actions of Simone and the narrator in Chapter 1?

5. Explain what Simone does with the saucer of milk in the first chapter.

6. How does the narrator explain Marcelle's features as she gazes at the ocean?

7. Explain how the orgy in Chapter 2 takes place.

8. Explain what happens to Marcelle in Chapter 1.

9. Explain the mother's first encounter with the couple in their actions, and her reaction, as well as their reaction to the mother.

10. How does the narrator avoid police capture in Chapter 3 and how is this possible?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Choose one of the following topics to discuss:

1.) Many have criticized the novel as being pornographic without a cause. What do you think the ending moral of the story is? Do you believe the author had a purpose in writing the novel? If so, what was it? If not, why did he write the novel?

2.) There are several graphical scenes in the novel that use harsh, if not crude, words. Do you believe the author could have achieved his goals in writing the novel without such harsh language? Why or why not? What is the purpose of such language within the context of the book? Does it serve a purpose? If so, what is it? If not, why was it used?

3.) There are several references to very unusual sexual acts within the novel. Do you feel these references were necessarily graphic? Why or why not? Did these graphic depictions serve a purpose in the novel? If so, what was it? If not, why was the author so graphic in his depictions?

Essay Topic 2

The narrator notes in the novel that people fear lewd behaviors because they have a secret desire to participate in them. Do you believe this is true? Why or why not? Does this statement explain the behaviors of the characters in the novel? Why or why not? If so, why are they willing to give in to such behaviors when other are not? If not, what is the real reason behind their activities?

Essay Topic 3

Marcelle is transformed in the novel from a mutual, pious friend of Simone and the narrator to an insane, suicidal sexually deviant psychopath. Explain how and why this transformation occurred. What were signs in the novel that indicated these changes in Marcelle? What pushed her along the path of madness? What role did Simone and the narrator play in this path? What was the end result? Why?

(see the answer keys)

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