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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. In which country does this novel take place?

2. To what does Werther compare his general opinion on painting in the letter of May 30?

3. What subject do Albert and Werther discuss so heatedly in the letter of August 12?

4. Whom does Werther assist in his or her daily chore?

5. In which location does Werther arrange to meet Lotte and Albert?

Short Essay Questions

1. What natural feature of the environment of his town does Werther feel particularly drawn to, and to what does he compare the feeling?

2. How does Werther describe his delight in the countryside surrounding Wahlheim?

3. What example does Werther give Albert regarding the justifiability of suicide, and why does Werther take the standpoint he does?

4. What is the substance of Werther and Albert's conversation, as Werther relates it in the letter of August 12?

5. What is the substance of Werther and Lotte's conversation the night before Werther leaves Wahlheim?

6. To what does Werther compare Lotte's influence on him in the letter of July 26, and what the effects of her influence upon him?

7. How has Werther's life or attitudes changed after falling in love with Lotte?

8. To what type of people does Werther compare those who he thinks are happiest in life, and what is his reasoning for this comparison?

9. What activities does Werther engage in now that he is away from his friends and in a new town?

10. What is the substance of Werther's conversation with the farmer-boy in the town square of Wahlheim?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Consider the little peasant family that Werther meets in Wahlheim and subsequently gets to know: the mother and her several children, including Hans. What is the little family's story? What attracts them to Werther? How does he interact with them? How is his relationship with them symbolic of a relationship between social classes at large? What might the symbolism be when their inheritance falls through, and when Hans dies? What is the effect of their tragedy on Werther? What about their fate of poverty is significant to the major themes of the novel?

Essay Topic 2

Examine the symbolism and importance of clothing in the novel. Focus on the letters of July 8, 1771; August 28, 1771; and September 6, 1772. What articles of clothing does Werther have a disproportionate focus on? What might these articles of clothing symbolize, for Werther as well as for the reader? How does Goethe use them as talismans in the novel--what power do they have? Additionally, what do these articles of clothing conceal, or what might they stand in for?

Essay Topic 3

Consider the theme of religion, God, Fate and the divine in the novel. Where, and in which situations, does Werther feel the presence or absence of God? Is there anything overtly, or covertly, religious or spiritual about the novel as a whole? Why does Werther feel, at times, both connected to and disconnected from God? What ambiguities does Werther confront, or ignore, about his passion for Lotte and the sinfulness or morality of it? How does Werther view Fate, and why might having a fated destiny be significant to considerations of the morality of Werther's end? How does Werther view Lotte in religious terms, and why does he seem to do so?

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