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This test consists of 5 short answer questions and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Mr. Ramsay look at Lily?

2. While the summerhouse is deserted, what is the weather like?

3. What does Mr. Ramsay tell James about his ability to steer the boat?

4. What is the message in the letter that Mrs. McNab receives from the Ramsay children?

5. Lily had gone to a Hall to hear Mr. Tansley speak. What was the topic of his speech

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The Lighthouse is one of the main constants throughout the novel. It is mentioned in all three parts of the story.

1) Explain the three different images Woolf gives of the lighthouse as the book progresses.

2) What is the significance of the lighthouse in each part of the novel?

3) What meaning does the lighthouse have for Mrs. Ramsay, James, Lily Briscoe, and Mr. Ramsay?

Essay Topic 2

Part II begins during a storm with the lighthouse's glow touching parts of the abandoned house.

1) How does Woolf use images of darkness, violent storms, and the shabbiness of the house to convey the tone of this part of the novel?

2) How does the condition of the house and the weather compare to the lives of the Ramsay family during Part II of the novel?

3) Justify the answers with examples from the novel.

Essay Topic 3

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?

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