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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. What is NOT a reason listed among Nella's reasons for accepting Johannes's marriage proposal?

2. Who drags Nella out of the room after Nella discovers Johannes engaged in oral sex with someone else?

3. What task has Cornelia been forced to undertake for weeks prior to Nella's arrival, causing Nella to worry that Cornelia will hold the task against her indefinitely?

4. When Marin does not introduce herself, for whom does Nella mistake her new sister-in-law?

5. What object does Marin refer to as being "early to ripe, early to rot" (15) in reference to Nella's perfume?

Short Essay Questions

1. What warning does Otto issue to Nella concerning her parakeet and Marin?

2. Describe Marin's character.

3. How do Nella's expectations of Marin's reaction differ from Marin's real reaction when Nella tells her about Johannes's homosexuality?

4. How does Nella characterize the people in her life in relation to dwelling on the past?

5. Describe Nella's first kiss with Johannes.

6. What does the herring served within the Brandt household symbolize?

7. How do Marin's and Nella's views of Nella's situation in the Brandt household differ?

8. For what reason does Nella decide to visit Johannes at his work?

9. What is ironic about Nella's mother's comment that there is only one kind of wife?

10. What is Nella's marital status when she first arrives at the Brandt home?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the author's choice to tell the story of The Miniaturist using the third-person omniscient point of view. What elements of the novel's themes lend themselves to this choice and what are the author's intended effects on the reader?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the many instances of irony within the novel's narrative and analyze the author's purpose for including each instance you discuss.

Essay Topic 3

What is the novel's message regarding the role of religion in Seventeenth-Century Holland?

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