View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What word does Domino write in the snow when Henri asks him to desert?

2. Where is Henri wounded?

3. What does Villanelle teach Henri to do while they are in Venice?

4. What question does the Queen ask Villanelle during their last visit together?

5. When Villanelle´s husband finds her, what do they do to settle the score?

Short Essay Questions

1. How long are Villanelle and her husband together before she leaves him? What does she do in order to sneak away?

2. What do the Russian peasants call the czar? What do they do as the Napoleonic army arrives?

3. What game does Villanelle say she entered with the Queen of Spades? What was the wager?

4. In the beginning of Chapter 3, what is Henri´s emotional state? What is Henri´s physical state?

5. What happens to Patrick while he, Henri, and Villanelle are traveling? What does he talk about?

6. At the end of the novel, what does Henri see in the boat with Villanelle? What does he wonder about this?

7. When Henri asks Domino to desert with him, what does Domino write? What does Domino give Henri as he leaves?

8. When Villanelle's husband catches up with her, what do they do to settle the score? What happens to Villanelle?

9. When Villanelle tries to break Henri out of the asylum, what is his reaction? Why does he react this way?

10. How many days does it take the authorities to catch up with Villanelle and Henri? What do they do in this time?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Henri contemplates snowflakes often in the novel. Write an essay about the symbolic importance of snowflakes in The Passion and why Henri mentions them throughout the novel. Be sure to use at least three examples of Henri talking about snowflakes.

Essay Topic 2

The relationship between the two narrators is a central theme in The Passion. Write an essay about the relationship between Villanelle and Henri from both sides, as Winterson does. How is their love impossible?

Essay Topic 3

Napoleon is a central figure in the novel. Write an essay on Napoleon´s character, and what he represents to both the characters in the novel and the novel as a whole. Be specific and be sure to use at least three examples in your argument.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 666 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample