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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 Section 6, who does Susan deride towards the end of her monologue?

2. In Section 8, who contends that the characters have "destroyed something by our presence"?

3. Where has the sun moved to at the beginning of Section 6?

4. What is most notable about Jinny's Section 6 monologue?

5. In Section 7, which two people does Susan name as those she "thinks sometimes of"?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe how Louis appears in Section 6.

2. Describe how Jinny appears in Section 6.

3. The first thing the reader learns in Section 5 is that Percival has died. How did he die, and who does it seem to have the strongest effect on?

4. How does Bernard's role change in Section 8, and what evidence do you have to support that?

5. Why does Bernard travel to Rome in Section 7?

6. Why doesn't Percival's death have a strong effect on Bernard in Section 5?

7. Elaborate on what Rhoda identifies as the problems the characters have faced in their lives in Section 8.

8. Characterize the way Bernard appears in Section 5.

9. What in particular separates Section 7 from the prior two sections, and why is that significant?

10. Why is it significant that Bernard is not the first speaker in Section 5?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Based on your familiarity and knowledge of the Modernist movement, how is this text the typical Modernist novel? What of its features are "Modernist?" What topics does it tackle that make it "Modernist?"

Essay Topic 2

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 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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