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

Short Answer Questions

1. Who often joins the lover and the narrator at expensive restaurants and nightclubs?

2. What type of people were attracted to the houses the narrator describes in segment 14?

3. What does the lover have difficulty doing?

4. Who does the narrator mainly dance with at the nightclubs?

5. What does Hélène Lagonelle talk often of during her conversations with the narrator?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

There are four female characters in this novel. Discuss the role of women in the novel and their relationship and interaction with one another. What are the defining relationships in the novel and what do we learn from them?

Essay Topic 2

The relationship between the mother and the daughter, the narrator, in the novel is very interesting, though highly dysfunctional. Describe this relationship. How does the nature of the relationship affect the personality or character traits of the narrator? How does the relationship between mother and daughter affect the narrator's early and later life? Why is it difficult for the narrator to remember her mother later in life?

Essay Topic 3

At a point in the novel, the narrator compares her love for the lover to water hidden in sand. What does the narrator mean by this? When does the narrator realize she loved the lover? How does that come about?

(see the answer keys)

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