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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 Sir Edmond do with the blond mannequin?

2. What does Simone do following her violent spasms?

3. What does Sir Edmond tell Simone is a vile tradition of bullfighting?

4. How does the couple get Marcelle's attention?

5. What does the narrator do with Simone?

Short Essay Questions

1. Explain why Simone and the narrator do not speak of eggs, or of any other portion of their unusual sexual relationship.

2. Explain how the author notes the change in Marcelle as he describes her actions when Simone and the narrator are freeing her from the sanitarium.

3. Discuss Simone's episode with the raw bull testicle. Include what happens when she first receives it, and the end result.

4. Why does the narrator claim he believes Simone urinates on the corpse of Marcelle?

5. Explain the narrator's actions as the couple stops the first time on their journey home from the sanitarium in Chapter 5.

6. What happens to Marcelle in Chapter 8, and why?

7. Describe the sexual fantasy of Simone and the narrator about Marcelle in Chapter 6.

8. Explain how the death of Granero occurs, and the result of his death in terms of his eye.

9. Explain what happens to Simone as she attempts to masturbate on the bicycle, and the narrator's initial reaction.

10. What does the confusion between the cardinal and the narrator on the part of Marcelle seem to show?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The novel begins with the discovery of unusual sexual practices by two teenagers, and ends with the murder and mutilation of a priest for sexual gratification. Discuss, in detail, the journey of Simone and the narrator, and discuss the events which led to their downward spiral into murder. Be sure to include the involvement of parents, other associates, and the activities participated in.

Essay Topic 2

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 3

Sir Edmond is introduced as an additional character in the middle of the novel. His appearance lends an additional level of lewdness and insanity to the novel. Explain Sir Edmond's character in terms of his presence in the novel. What does his character lend to the storyline? What does his appearance do to the other characters? What is his role in the storyline? How does he serve to further the decline of the young couple?

(see the answer keys)

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