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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. Who is calling the phone in Paul's pocket?

2. What difficulty does the restaurant manager encounter when serving the wine?

3. Where had Paul and Claire gone on vacation the previous year?

4. To what actress does Paul compare the waitress at the restaurant?

5. What cell phone service does Paul and Michel both use?

Short Essay Questions

1. What conversation does Paul and Claire have regarding Michel before they go to the restaurant?

2. How does Paul describe the people of Dordogne in Chapter 12?

3. Why does Paul go into the restroom after finding Claire and Babette in the garden? Does he achieve his objective?

4. How is the novel structured? What are its main sections?

5. How is the restaurant described?

6. What does the man with the beard ask of Paul? Why?

7. How is Serge perceived by the public?

8. Why does Paul go into Michel's room an hour before he and Claire leave for the restaurant? Why does he tell Michel he is there?

9. How does Paul describe his brother's eating behavior?

10. Why does Michel call his father while he his at the restaurant?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Explore significance of the novel's narrative style. What would the novel be like if told from one of the other characters' points of view? Do you think the other characters in the novel would be more or less reliable narrators? Why?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the character of Paul as an example of an unreliable narrator. What aspects of Paul's narrative come into question? Why? How would this novel differ if Paul were a reliable narrator, or if the story were related from a third-person perspective?

Essay Topic 3

Explore Paul's and Serge's career paths. What does it take to succeed in politics vs. the classroom? What skills does one have that the other lacks? What skills and strengths do they share?

(see the answer keys)

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