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

Short Answer Questions

1. For a while, how does Claude make a fairly good living?

2. What is it that Claude does not know while he waits to see if the Dead Child will be included in the Salon?

3. Why do Sandoz and Claude not go into the Café Baudequin that night?

4. After the party at Sandoz's house, what does Christine do when Claude orders her to return home?

5. Who generally shows up on varnishing day?

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 Claude Lantier's Reverence for Nude Women in Art. The three specific areas of the novel that deal with this topic should be the main points of your essay: (1) looking at Christine posing nude for the first time, Zola says that Claude's "heart pounded in his breast as it might have done in the presence of a naked saint." (2) Zola later tells the reader that Claude saw his nude woman in his paintings as a symbol for Paris. (3) Finally, Claude is unable to recapture the woman in his final painting and ultimately commits suicide for the love of her.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay of at least two typed, double-spaced pages on the topic of The Decadent Bourgeois. The essay should center on Margaillan and include (1) his ill-gotten wealth, (2) his conspicuous spending, and (3) his disrespectful manner while viewing Claude's painting at the Salon des Refusés.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay of at least two typed, double-spaced pages on the topic of Art and Art Dealers. The essay topics should include (1) Naudet who could tell which artists could make him money but had no idea about which artist could become a great painter; (2) Bongrand's accusation that art had been reduced to francs, and (3) Malgras who recognized good art but resorted to cheating the artists.

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This section contains 432 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample