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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. In what city is the character living whom Fiona wants to call with news about Claire?

2. What is the name of the man with whom Fiona begins an affair?

3. When Jake, Richard, Serge, and Fiona arrive in Vincennes, what method have they used to get there?

4. Who decides to take care of Julian during Julian's illness?

5. Fiona talks to what kind of professional in her attempts to heal from Nico's death?

Short Essay Questions

1. At what age had Claire started to help Fiona in the furniture store and what tasks had she performed?

2. What information does Fiona tell Jake about the friendship between Julian and Nico?

3. Explain Fiona's acquisition of Nico's friends as her own friends.

4. What techniques does Makkai use in order to portray Yale's mood as he returns home from a business trip?

5. What subject is Fiona talking about when she unknowingly injures herself?

6. Who is Dan?

7. Describe the symbolism of Roscoe.

8. How does Fiona describe the setting in which Nico had died?

9. How does Fiona injure her hand during her conversation with Jake?

10. Who brings Fiona's daughter Claire to her for the first time and how does Fiona react?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

William Faulkner once famously claimed that the most important literature deals with the subject of the human heart in conflict with itself. Explain how the theme of Human versus Self is demonstrated within Makkai’s novel The Great Believers. Create a decisive, arguable claim and prove it with quotes from the novel.

Essay Topic 2

How does the music motif appear within The Great Believers and how does its treatment relate to the novel's depicted messages?

Essay Topic 3

Trace the characterization arc of Fiona’s character throughout the novel The Great Believers. Discuss whether Fiona is a round or flat character and whether she is a static or dynamic character as you compose your essay.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 953 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample