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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. What does Laura seem to have learned through her time in the kitchen with Richie?

2. What does Laura think of the shadow of the passing bird?

3. What has attracted a small crowd?

4. How does Virginia describe Ralph?

5. What is interesting about Richard's lungs?

Short Essay Questions

1. What fascinates Laura about Virginia Woolf's death?

2. What is the significance of the literary prize that Richard has been awarded?

3. What are Laura's feelings about her son?

4. What is Virginia's attitude toward Vanessa's children?

5. Of what significance is the bird that Laura briefly glimpses?

6. Explain what is meant by the comment that Laura Brown is 'trying to keep herself'.

7. What is the 'inner faculty' that Virginia refers to?

8. Comment on an aspect of the Prologue's final paragraph.

9. What sets a favorable writing mindset for Virginia Woolf in this chapter?

10. What is notable about Richard's good fortune?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay that discusses the contribution of the minor characters in The Hours. Could any of them have been omitted? What difference do they make to the story? Do they enrich it in any way?

Essay Topic 2

Writing has been said to hold a mirror to life. What do you see of life in The Hours and how is this vision significant?

Essay Topic 3

How can knowledge of the context in which literature was composed deepen a reader's appreciation of the text? In your answer, refer closely to The Hours by Michael Cunningham, but you might expand your response by including reference to an additional text.

(see the answer keys)

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