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

Short Answer Questions

1. Who is the biggest influence on the why the relationship between the narrator and the lover is ending?

2. How does the narrator feel about her situation as a "kept woman"?

3. What subject was NOT discussed in the houses where the narrator took her meals and spent much time?

4. What did the mother always take with her on her trips to France?

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

References to water and the sea are used in many segments throughout the novel. Explain the role of the sea or water in the novel. Provide several examples where it is used.

Essay Topic 2

The relationship between the lover and the narrator lasted for a year and a half. Identify the course of the relationship and the key events that shifted the course. What is the beginning of the relationship? What is the highpoint of the relationship? When does the relationship take a downturn? How does the relationship end?

Essay Topic 3

The narrator tells a few stories in the novel that seemingly have nothing to do with the plot or her life story. However, these stories can be seen to parallel the narrator's own story. What are these stories or instances that the narrator relates to the reader? Summarize them and explain why or how they are used as metaphors for the narrator's life. Why does the narrator choose to use these comparisons?

(see the answer keys)

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