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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. How old was Montesquiou when he traveled to London in 1885?

2. When did Leon Daudet fight his first duel?

3. What was the name of Samuel Pozzi's mother?

4. When did Robert Caze fight in a duel with Felicien Champsaur?

5. Around what year did Nadar take the first photographs of a hermaphrodite?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who was Edmond de Goncourt?

2. Who was Sarah Bernhardt and what role does she play in the narrative?

3. What does Des Esseintes tortoise symbolize?

4. What does a dandy refer to?

5. What is a duel? What is its history?

6. What painting inspired the author to write this book? Why?

7. How does the author compare the sexual perspectives of those from England and those from France in the late nineteenth century?

8. Who was Jean Lorrain?

9. What literary device does the author reference and explain in the opening of the narrative?

10. Give a brief bio of Dr. Pozzi. When was he born? When did he die? What was his profession?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Who was Edmond de Goncourt and why is he important in the narrative? What publications did Edmond de Goncourt publish? Who did he know among the elite circles of France?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the American perspectives of the British and French during the time period of the Belle Époque. How did Americans respond to visits from Europeans like Wilde, Montesquiou, and Pozzi? What did they think of European royalty and aristocracy? How did they perceive the art and literature of Europe?

Essay Topic 3

Describe and discuss the life of Count Robert de Montesquiou-Fezensac. When and where was he born? How is his family described? What was he best known for during his lifetime?

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