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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. Which town does Werther visit, as related in the letter of May 5?

2. What does Werther find trying about his employer?

3. What sight causes Werther to weep profusely, as related in the letter of December 4?

4. What does Werther vow he will never do, though he very much wants to?

5. What is the gift Werther receives in the letter of April 19?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Werther's opinion of Albert change from its prior state, according to the Editor?

2. Whom does Werther meet while walking in Weimar, and what is this young woman like?

3. What news does Werther receive from Albert and Lotte in the letter dated February 20, and how does Werther respond to the news?

4. Who does Werther meet while walking along the water's edge in Wahlheim, what is the person doing, and what does this person look like, as related in the letter of November 30?

5. What correspondence does Werther receive from a government minister, as related in the letter of February 17, and how does Werther react to the correspondence?

6. How does Werther describe the Ambassador?

7. What does Werther see as the keys to happiness, and how do these key things affect him specifically, as related in the letter of October 20?

8. How do Werther's personality and his thoughts change upon returning to Wahlheim?

9. How does Werther's relationship with God seem to change from its prior state toward the end of the letter of November 30, and how does Werther express his feelings about this change?

10. Summarize the ongoing story of the farmer-boy whom Werther had met earlier in the novel.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Compare and contrast the characters of Albert and Werther. Consider their personalities, the tone in which they speak, and general character development. Although they appear to be polar opposites, are there any ways in which they are similar? Closely analyze the letter of August 12, 1771, in which the two men speak on the subject of suicide and other crimes. What does this letter reveal about their characters, personalities, values and views? What about each man attracts Lotte to him?

Essay Topic 2

Compare and contrast the two lovelorn young men Werther meets: the farmer-boy who fell in love with his mistress and murdered his other servant, and the madman named Heinrich roaming around the water's edge looking for flowers. What has caused the situations the two men find themselves in? What are their reasons, excuses, interpretations and plans? How do their situations and Goethe's characterization of them relate to Werther--that is, in which ways are they notably similar and different? How does Werther interpret his encounters with the two men? Is there any form of irony present in their characterizations, their narratives, or their fates?

Essay Topic 3

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?

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