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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. Who professes that Bernard looks composed?

2. What are the boys doing when the monologues in Section 2 return to their perspective?

3. Who takes the children for a "brisk walk"?

4. What is Louis's profession when the reader encounters him in Section 3?

5. How does Rhoda react to the party in Section 3?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe in your own words the scene at the very beginning of Section 1, and offer an idea of why Woolf would begin this novel in such a way.

2. When the characters change locations in the text, it is not always noticeable. Identify why this is and the effect on the reader.

3. Describe how Section 2 is structured.

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

5. Describe the boys' experiences in chapel while at school in Section 2.

6. Overall, what should the reader take away as most significant from Section 1?

7. What is significant about the opening description to Section 4?

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

9. Briefly analyze Neville's attitude towards religion.

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write a detailed essay that argues that Percival is either: 1) an intrinsic character to the novel, made only more important by the fact that he doesn't speak and dies at the novel's midpoint or 2) a kind of outlier or distraction, both for the characters in the text and the reader. In the course of this essay evaluate Percival's significance, his effect on each of the characters, and the role his death plays in shaping other character's lives.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay which compares and contrasts any two of the sections' introductory vignettes. Pick one vignette which is typical of the whole novel, and one which is atypical (there are two in particular). What separates these vignettes? Include as many reasons as you can think of as to why Woolf would change her method at such a point in the text.

Essay Topic 3

Two characters die in this text, Rhoda and Percival, and there are at least two births, to Susan and Bernard. Evaluate the significance of the death of these two characters.

(see the answer keys)

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