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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 the couple do each evening on the balcony of their hotel room?

2. What do Mary and Colin forget to take with them when they leave the hotel?

3. What does Mary recall provided her with comfort when she was a teenager?

4. What is notable about Caroline's demeanor when she invites Mary and Colin to dine with her and Robert?

5. How does Mary initially react to Robert?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Mary react to Colin when he wears the dressing gown? How is this different from his own reaction?

2. Describe the gallery in Robert and Caroline's apartment

3. What are Mary and Colin looking for as they journey through the city? Why?

4. Describe Robert's first meeting with Caroline.

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

6. What does Mary tell Colin she dreams about during their daily naps?

7. How does Caroline define being "in love" with someone? How does the definition of love differ for men and women according to Caroline?

8. Describe the notebook Mary keeps as a thirteen-year-old. Why is her mind drawn to this memory while vacationing?

9. What does Mary notice about Colin's body as he lays sleeping in Robert and Caroline's apartment?

10. Describe Colin and Mary's nightly ritual (in the hotel room) before leaving for dinner

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The human body plays an important role in this novel. Discuss several situations where the body is central to the plot of the story. Focus on what the human body is serving as a symbol of at that point in the novel. Be sure to cite specific details from the novel to support your ideas.

Essay Topic 2

Select the most sympathetic and least sympathetic characters in the novel. Write an essay:

1) describing why you think each is sympathetic/not sympathetic

2) defend your position using details from the novel

Essay Topic 3

Compare and contrast the men and women in this novel. How are the female characters similar/different? How are the male characters similar/different? Then discuss why you think the author presents this variety of male and female characters in the novel. Be sure to cite specific evidence from the novel to support your ideas.

(see the answer keys)

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