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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 does Mrs. Ramsay want Lily to get married?

2. How does Mr. Bankes feel about Mrs. Ramsay as the talk at the dinner table?

3. What is Mrs. Ramsay sorry for after she tells James they cannot go to the Lighthouse?

4. How does Mrs. Ramsay feel about her husband as she looks at him across the table?

5. Why can't the sleep once dinner is over?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is Mrs. Ramsay so agitated about Nancy, Andrew, Minta, and Paul being late for supper?

2. Why does Mr. Ramsay interrupt James and his wife as they read a book?

3. Although Mrs. Ramsay describes the summerhouse they are renting as shabby, what does she like about being there?

4. Lily Briscoe sees Mr. and Mrs. Ramsay watching Prue and Jasper playing with a ball. What does she think the Ramsays symbolize?

5. What does Mrs. Ramsay compare herself to when she begins dinner without asking Nancy, Andrew, Minta, and Paul why they are late?

6. How does Mrs. McNabb manage to get the house in order after she receives word that the Ramsay's are coming for the summer?

7. Describe the scene as Mr. Bankes, Prue, Andrew, and Lily turn off the lights before going to bed.

8. How does Lily Briscoe interpret William Bankes' feelings for Mrs. Ramsay?

9. Why does Mr. Ramsay become so angry with his wife when she is measuring James' leg for the stockings she is knitting?

10. How does Lily Briscoe justify being a single woman?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

1) Analyze the resolution of the story as it relates to each of the characters in the novel.

2) Explain the metamorphosis each of them experiences in the final chapter.

3) Describe how Lily's words," It is finished", relate to James, Cam, Mr. Ramsay, Lily, and Mr. Carmichael.

Essay Topic 2

1) Interpret the feelings Paul and Minta have for each other in the first part of the novel when they are at the beach.

2) Are their emotions authentic?

3) Are they truthful with each other?

4) Compare these emotions with how they interact later in the novel, after they are married. What regrets do they have at the end of the novel with regard to their relationship?

5) How does their relationship differ from the first part of the novel?

Essay Topic 3

1) Compare Lily Briscoe's thoughts and ideas as she paints the picture of Mrs. Ramsay and James in Part I of the novel to her starting the painting once again in Part III.

2) How does she feel about the painting in each of the two parts of the novel?

3) How do her views toward her art change from when she starts the painting to when she finishes the painting?

(see the answer keys)

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