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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 Daniel say he is doing when Simon asks?

2. What kind of job does Simon find when he and Klara arrive in San Francisco?

3. What requirement does Klara have for the nightclubs at which she will perform?

4. What date does the narrator finally reveal as the one foretold to Simon by the fortune teller?

5. Gali tells the members of his ballet company often that their "movements must have" (85) what?

Short Essay Questions

1. Compare Varya's ideas about fortune telling with Ruby Singh's.

2. How did the Gold children's maternal grandmother die and why are the children adults before they find out this information?

3. What evidence does the author provide for the claim that the Gold children in 1969 "are siblings, this summer, in a way they never will be again" (4)?

4. What differences between Robert and Simon does the author depict as those that drive Simon to cheat on Robert?

5. Which of the Gold siblings is the most apprehensive about the prospect of visiting the fortune teller and why?

6. Who is the first of the Gold siblings to hear about the fortune teller and what action does this sibling then take?

7. When the narrator reveals that Raj has "big plans" (113) for overhauling Klara's act, what kind of changes does the narrator depict?

8. How is an allusion to the story of Icarus used within the author's depiction of Simon's progression toward the date of his foretold death?

9. How is the theme of guilt depicted within Gertie's feelings about her son after his death?

10. What aspects of Robert's character are depicted as those that make him "stand out" (59) to Simon?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How do the themes of deception and secrecy function within the novel and what is the author's message regarding these themes?

Essay Topic 2

Analyze the novel The Immortalists from an Existential perspective. What elements of life does it suggest hold the most meaning and why?

Essay Topic 3

What is the function of Klara's character within the novel? Discuss the characterization methods used by the author in depicting Klara and include in your discussion the reasons that the author portrays her in these particular ways.

(see the answer keys)

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