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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. Why does Colin wear a woman's dressing gown when he awakens?

2. What does Mary spend time doing when she awakens?

3. How long have Colin and Mary been together?

4. How do Robert's sisters attempt to embarrass him in front of Caroline?

5. Where do Mary and Colin awaken at the beginning of Chapter 5?

Short Essay Questions

1. What information about the bar does Caroline share with Mary? How does Mary react?

2. Where does Robert take Mary and Colin to eat? Describe this setting.

3. Describe the setting of the first chapter

4. What is unusual about Robert's interactions with Mary and Colin in this chapter?

5. How does Mary and Colin's relationship with the hotel maid change over the course of their vacation?

6. Describe the display in the department store window that both Mary and Colin comment on.

7. Describe Mary and Colin's experience outside of the hospital.

8. Describe Robert's first meeting with Caroline.

9. How does the author initially describe Robert?

10. How are Mary and Colin's views on feminism demonstrated through their reactions to a poster hanging on the wall of a Venice building?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Read the two inscriptions at the beginning of the novel.

Discuss the significance of these quote in reference to the novel. How do they fit (or not fit) the novel? Why do you think Ian McEwan chose these quotes? How do they work together to demonstrate the themes of the novel?

Cite several specific examples from the novel to support your ideas.

Essay Topic 2

Throughout The Comfort of Strangers the author explores what it means to be a stranger. Discuss how characters in this novel are strangers focusing on what makes them strangers. Then discuss the author's view of the stranger. Is it better to be a stranger or to not be a stranger, according to McEwan? Why?

Cite several specific examples from the novel to support your ideas.

Essay Topic 3

One of the themes in this novel is the concept of gender roles. Discuss the ways that this theme plays out in the novel and the overarching message about gender that the author is trying to make. Be sure to cite specific evidence from the novel to support your ideas.

(see the answer keys)

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