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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 of the characters begins Section 8?

2. What time is it when Bernard begins his last monologue of Section 8?

3. In Section 8, what happens between Rhoda and Louis?

4. What separates Neville's monologue from the others in Section 6?

5. In Section 6, Who remarks, "Percival has died . . . Life passes."?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe how Louis appears in Section 6.

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

3. Describe how Jinny appears in Section 6.

4. What is different about Susan in Section 7?

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

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

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

8. Describe the way Louis is characterized in Section 7.

9. How does the structure of Section 5 parallel the development of the characters?

10. Describe how the characters feel during the dinner they share in Section 8.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In a detailed essay, outline the role Rhoda plays in the group. Is she a kind of tragic hero? What is the source or her paralysis and misanthropy? Fully describe this character using ample textual evidence.

Essay Topic 2

Compare and contrast the novel's two most troubled characters: Rhoda and Neville. Identify their weaknesses as individuals, and offer the sources of their peculiarities. This essay should include detailed descriptions and evaluations of each of these characters and even offer ideas as to how they function similarly and differently.

Essay Topic 3

How is Woolf able to create a coherent text that features a plot that can be summed up in the course of a few sentences (which you should offer in the course of your essay)? What are her greatest successes and greatest failures? Keep in mind that this was Virgina Woolf's last fully completed novel published before her suicide, and is often regarded as her masterpiece (although many of her works are generally considered masterpieces in their own right). Do you agree with the historical appraisal of this novel? It is okay to not like, or even hate this novel, a text that engages in such high levels of experimentation is likely to be divisive. In regard to how you feel towards the novel in particular, try and fathom whatever the opposite opinion could be. That is, if you find the novel successful, talk about how you can see that others may find it tedious and difficult.

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