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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. At the lover's first picnic, what are they eating?

2. What is the real name of the girls' tutor?

3. In what year does Laura die?

4. What is the name of the man Laura meets at the picnic and invites to Avilion for dinner?

5. In the prologue to the novel within the novel, the main character looks at a picture. What object is depicted on this picture on one side?

Short Essay Questions

1. How do Winifred and Richard treat the Chase sisters?

2. In chapter 4, X is hired to kill the king. How is X supposed to get close enough to the king to kill him?

3. What is the fate of slave children who make the carpets in Sakiel-Norn?

4. In chapter 5, how do the two sisters feel toward their governess, Miss Violence?

5. Do you think X's chose the right course of action regarding the tongueless virgin?

6. At the end of chapter 6, the man is writing a story including characters X, Y, Z, and B. What is this story about?

7. In chapter 5, Laura does something that scares and angers Iris because she thinks it will save her dead mother. What does Laura do?

8. Why does Benjamin Chase marry Adelia?

9. Why is it awkward between Liliana and Norval Chase when he returns from the war?

10. How does Iris feel about the Laura Chase Memorial Prize?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Iris often reflects on the idea of heaven and hell. At the end of the novel, Iris comes to a conclusion about heaven and hell very similar to the conclusion drawn by the men in the story of the Peach Women of Aa'A. What is this conclusion? Using this conclusion, look at the settings in the story and determine whether these locations are representative of heaven or hell. Also, be sure to examine the significance of gardens and fire in terms of heaven and hell, as well as the implications of literary allusions, such as the importance of the literary roots of Xanadu and Avilion and Iris's name in the context of the passage from the Aeneid Laura leavers for her sister? Be sure to consider ways in which places that appear to be heaven can actually be hell and vice versa.

Essay Topic 2

Throughout the novel, the characters, particularly Laura and Iris, make decisions because they are misinformed or ignorant. Discuss the significance of ignorance and oblivion in the novel. According to the woman, she is with the man for oblivion. Does this oblivion necessitate the ignorance regarding the events taking place around her? In what ways does oblivion or ignorance help the characters and in what way does it hinder them? On the other hand, are there any instances in which knowledge is a hindrance?

Essay Topic 3

Water related images pervade the novel. What do you think the water symbolizes and why do you think the author chose water? Cite at least three water images from the novel, making sure to explain them both in their immediate context and the context of the novel as a whole.

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This section contains 942 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample