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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. Although frequently inspired by what he sees in the country, how does Claude react?

2. Why does Christine pack up everything to return to Paris?

3. What is Bongrand's lament about art dealers?

4. Why does Christine resist sightseeing in Paris with Claude?

5. How do the young men of the Open Air movement see themselves?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Claude attempt to make Christine happy once again?

2. Aside from the poverty of Claude's studio, how does the reader come to understand how poor Claude actually is?

3. What is another evidence of how the Open air group is drifting apart?

4. In what way does the reader understand that Claude is first and foremost an artist?

5. Describe the image of Claude, Sandoz, Jory, and Chaîne marching through the streets of Paris.

6. Describe the mood at the beginning of the novel.

7. Explain the result of Claude's and Christine's visit to the country.

8. When Claude finally locates his painting, how does he once again feel rejected?

9. What is it that frightens Christine about Claude?

10. As the character of Claude develops in the novel, what appears to be his greatest fault?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay of at least two typed, double-spaced pages on the topic of How Sandoz and Claude See Chaîne Differently. Using the passage where they meet Chaîne at the carnival, explain how and why Sandoz sees Chaîne in a completely different light from the way Claude sees him. Explain why Sandoz sees so much clearer than Claude does.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay of at least two typed, double-spaced pages on the topic, The Past Cannot Be Recaptured. Using the things Claude and Sandoz see in the country, the essay should explain Zola's statement, "The past was but the cemetery of our illusions: one simply stubbed one's toes on the gravestones."

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay of at least two typed, double-spaced pages on the topic of Foreshadowing Claude's Death. In Chapter 11, there are passages where Sandoz fears for Claude's life, Christine has a "dread she dared not put into words," and Claude recognizes "desire hovering on the brink of blissful death." With those as the main points of the essay, write about what each of them means as a foreshadowing.

(see the answer keys)

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