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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 are the Civil Guard fighting outside?

2. What does Don Jaime hate to hear fencing be called?

3. What does Don Jaime see floating in the water in his dream?

4. Why does Don Jaime leave the cafe early?

5. Why does Dona Adela think she feels faint?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Adela Otero convince her to fence?

2. How does Don Luis offend Don Jaime in this section?

3. What does Don Jaime closing the shutters on the demonstrators say about how he likes to live his life?

4. What is Don Jaime's opinion of Manlito?

5. How did Don Jaime become a fencing master?

6. What favor does Don Jaime agree to do for Don Luis in this section?

7. How does Don Jaime anger Dona Adela during the first bout?

8. Describe the room in which Don Jaime waits for Adela Otero.

9. Why isn't the Marquis at his best?

10. What is masculine about Adela Otero?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Examine the book's chronological setting.

1. What were the main concerns during the 1860s? How does the author express these concerns?

2. How would the author change the book if it was set in today's society?

Essay Topic 2

Define the following terms;

1. Compound attack.

2. The short lunge.

3. Glissade.

4. Appel.

How does the author use the fencing terms as part of the narrative structure?

Essay Topic 3

Compare Don Jaime's character to the person he was at the beginning of the book to the he is at the end.

1. What did Don Jaime hope to achieve at the beginning of the book?

2. What events changes Don Jaime ideas about life?

3. How has Don Jaime's character changed by the end of the book?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 866 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample