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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 remember being sold in novelty shops?

2. What battle has been won?

3. What makes Virginia shudder?

4. What does London mean to Virginia?

5. How much of her book has Laura now read?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What is Sally's reaction to Walter's present-buying?

3. Over what matters concerning Julia does Clarissa worry?

4. What is unusual about Louis' visit?

5. Which character is referred to as the subjugated Amazon Queen?

6. What are some of the ways in which Laura justifies to herself her trip to the hotel just in order to read?

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

8. Why is suicide not an option for Laura?

9. Why does Laura delay joining her husband in bed as his birthday draws to an end?

10. Why has Virginia's attitude changed?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write a detailed critical essay on Michael Cunningham's The Hours. This should be a substantial essay that examines concepts, style, imagery, characterization and imaginative vision. Evaluate the novel. Do you think it deserved its Pulitzer Prize? You will need to write 800-1,000 words.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss Cunningham's style in The Hours. Was it essential for him to adopt a style similar to Virginia Woolf's in order to compose this novel?

Essay Topic 3

What does the novel The Hours have to say to us about human love and human frailty? Express your ideas with close reference to the text.

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