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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. Which of Charles' engravings does Edmund wonder if visitors to his house saw?

2. What illness did Jules die from?

3. What was Renoir accused of by his peers?

4. In which city does Hotel Ephrussi have its counterpart?

5. Which Proust character was Charles said to be the model for?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Edmund think he has fallen for Charles?

2. Why was Japan a box of sweets for foreigners in the 1880s?

3. What evidence does de Waal to prove Charles was friends with all the great Paris artists of the late 19th century?

4. What can de Waal envision as he scans Charles' room?

5. How did Charles help Laforgue?

6. What does Edmund think was strange about Charles' relationship with the Impressionist painters?

7. Why does Charles buy a vitrine in Chapter 6?

8. What did Drumont write about Jews in his anti-Semetic newspaper?

9. How did Charles spend his time in Paris?

10. Why did Westerners view Japanese art as so different?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss elements of the narrative structure; Exposition, conflict, complication, climax, resolution and conclusion. Do all the elements make for a logical and linear story? How does the story's structure express the book's themes?

Essay Topic 2

Examine the author's writing style. How would you describe the author's prose style? What kind of vocabulary does he use? What meaning does the author's style give to the story?

Essay Topic 3

Examine the book's chronological setting.

1. What were the main concerns during the early part of the 20th century? How does the author express these concerns?

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

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 865 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample