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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. On what day does Johannes allow Otto and Cornelia "to dress up like lords and eat at his table" (183)?

2. In what month of 1687 does Part Four begin?

3. Where does Nella place the Nella doll after putting something around its neck?

4. Who is the only person to see Johannes off when he tries to flee from Amsterdam?

5. When Nella hears sobbing and opens Marin's door, what color is the liquid she sees Marin about to drink?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the significance of the loaf of sugar that Agnes's doll holds in its hand?

2. What happens when the militia arrives in Part Three: "Horseshoe"?

3. What plan is developed by Nella, Marin, and Cornelia in the beginning of Part Three: "Escape"? Why has this plan been developed?

4. What admissions does Marin make to Nella in Part Three: “Hidden Bodies"?

5. What act does Johannes tell Marin he has undertaken for her and "against the counsel" (219) of his soul?

6. How do Nella's feelings about privacy change over time within the Brandt household?

7. How does the destruction of the gingerbread families act as an element of foreshadowing?

8. What does Nella do as a sign of goodwill toward Johannes when he leaves for Venice and what is his reaction?

9. What has changed about Marin's doll in Part Three: "No Anchor"? What does this foreshadow?

10. What is the implication of Jack's charge against Johannes in Part Three: "Horseshoe"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Analyze the author's focus on the theme of family and the household. What message is the author sending about one or both of these themes?

Essay Topic 2

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

Essay Topic 3

Sensory details are used frequently by the author in order to create vivid pictures of Nella's world in Seventeenth-Century Holland. Choose three scenes in which sensory details are heavily used and discuss how the sensory details used by the author set a particular mood for each of the three scenes.

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