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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. Why have the characters gathered in Section 4?

2. What are the children doing as the novel begins?

3. What is the first speaker musing on at the beginning of Section 3?

4. What does Neville declare himself to be in Section 3?

5. What is the dominant image in the beginning of Section 2?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the differences in Jinny and Rhoda's experience's while at school in Section 2.

2. How does the group act differently when Percival arrives in Section 4?

3. Why does Woolf use a line or two of monologue rather than dialogue to introduce the children in Section 1?

4. What is significant about the way Section 2 is introduced?

5. Describe the fears, or the lack of fears, that the characters articulate in Section 3.

6. Characterize Bernard's attitude towards Louis as described in Section 3.

7. Describe how each character is presented in Section 1.

8. Why is it relevant that Bernard is the first speaker in Section 4?

9. Describe the way Section 3's introduction, the italicized vignette, fits in with the rest of Section 3 as a whole.

10. Why is Susan so distressed after she saw Jinny kiss Louis?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Using ample textual evidence, agree or disagree with the statement that Woolf succeeds in authentically depicting the individual's quest for understanding of both self and the world around him or her. Develop an argument supported by the text.

Essay Topic 2

When Jinny kisses Louis, only Susan is privy to the event, and this event should have only affected these three characters. But the loss of innocence pervades the whole novel. Write an essay which examines the theme of the loss of innocence, beginning with an analysis of "The Kiss" and its effect on the group.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay that details the significance of setting in this novel. We are exposed to both the country and the city, the classroom and the church, and spend a fair amount of time in cafés and restaurants. The setting in the introductory vignettes are also of particular significance. Examine the discrepancies in descriptions of settings between the monologues and the vignettes, and evaluate who, if any, of the characters have a particular fascination with setting.

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