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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. At what time of day does Virginia set off for a walk?
(a) About half an hour before sunset.
(b) In the middle of the night.
(c) Dusk--early evening.
(d) Mid-day.

2. What is Clarissa nervous about?
(a) The way her new lipstick will make her look.
(b) The way she ought to frame her comments to Julia.
(c) Whther or not Julia likes green tea and sugared ginger.
(d) The tic that always manifests itself if she is under stress.

3. How does this chapter begin?
(a) With Richie having a nightmare.
(b) With a cynical comment on married life.
(c) With the ordinary routines and rituals of going to bed.
(d) With Laura feeling ashamed.

4. In Walter, what does Sally find unbearable?
(a) His banality.
(b) His vanity.
(c) His venal nature.
(d) His good looks.

5. With which particular person does Laura contrast her own life?
(a) Virginia.
(b) Clarissa.
(c) Kitty.
(d) Barbara.

Short Answer Questions

1. What drove Clarissa to part from Richard over thirty years ago?

2. What can Laura see out of the hotel window?

3. Which character does Julia describe as strange?

4. What jewelry is Laura wearing?

5. What is Louis' sad observation?

Short Essay Questions

1. What writing decision of Virginia's is prompted by her success in her campaign to move back to London?

2. Why has Virginia's attitude changed?

3. What makes Virginia, at this point, begin to reconsider killing off her character, Mrs. Dalloway?

4. What gives Laura the feeling that she has actually succeeded in achieving a kind of perfection?

5. What fears does Virginia have at this point in the novel?

6. What do the two women exchange as Laura prepares to return home?

7. Why is suicide not an option for Laura?

8. Over what matters concerning Julia does Clarissa worry?

9. What distracts Laura as she gets out of her car at Mrs. Latch's house?

10. In what way is Laura's ambivalence towards her husband evident in Chapter 19 of The Hours?

(see the answer keys)

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