View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the year at the beginning of Part One, Chapter 24?

2. In what year is the story being told?

3. Where is the narrator at the beginning of Part Two, Chapter 25?

4. What does the narrator insist that her father do in Part One, Chapter 1?

5. What does Paul reassure Helen about in Part One, Chapter 23?

Short Essay Questions

1. Explain what happened to Hedges when he was attacked in Part One, Chapter 12.

2. Explain the relationship between Rossi and Paul.

3. Explain what happened at the monastery in France that Paul and the narrator visited.

4. Why is Barley angry with the narrator when she leaves Amsterdam in Part Two, Chapter 25?

5. Explain who the narrator is in The Historian. What story is she telling?

6. Who is Barley? What is his role in the story?

7. Explain Rossi’s travels as described in his letter in Part One, Chapter 9.

8. Explain what prompts Paul to tell the narrator about events from his past.

9. What is mysterious about the green book that is in Paul’s possession, according to Part One, Chapter 2?

10. What do Helen and Paul learn from the grubby male librarian when they confront him?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Define epilogues. How are they used in literature? Explain how the epilogue of The Historian impacts the story. What is revealed in the Epilogue? How would the story be different without it?

Essay Topic 2

Define foreshadowing. How is it used in literature? How is it identified? Give at least one example of foreshadowing used in The Historian. What does it foreshadow?

Essay Topic 3

There are many parallels between Paul’s research into Dracula and the narrator’s research into Dracula. Identify and explain at least three specific parallels between the two characters’ research paths. How do these parallels impact the reader’s experience of the story?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 690 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample