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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 did the narrator compare works of art to in Combray?

2. What was the main character dreaming of at the beginning of the book?

3. How did the main character think bedrooms were supposed to feel?

4. What was different on Saturdays in Combray than the other days?

5. Who was the head maid at the house on Combray?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happened one night when the narrator sent a note that he needed his mother?

2. Why was the way Grandmother treated Charles Swann so ironic?

3. Why was the narrator surrounded by adults as a child, and what effect did this have on him?

4. What did Great Aunt suffer from?

5. What did the narrator want to be when he grew up and why?

6. Why did the narrator like Combray more than Paris?

7. Why did the narrator hate to have house guests when he was a child?

8. Why was Great Aunt always happy when the narrator's family would visit her?

9. What did the narrator start doing after first meeting Gilberte Swann?

10. Why was the narrator forbidden from going to his Uncle Adolphe's house?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The separation of classes is quite a significant theme in this book. What are these classes, and how did this separation affect the characters belonging to them?

Essay Topic 2

Obsession is a theme present in a number of places in the plot. What are some of the best examples of this theme, and how did the presence of this theme affect the outcome of this book?

Essay Topic 3

The pursuit of happiness is a common theme found in this book. What parts of the plot embody this theme, and how did that pursuit affect the characters involved?

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