View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. The real estate deals in the Lubéron are often examples of worlds ______________.

2. Who helps Mayle get out of a parking ticket?

3. French Vogue follows up with a _____________-page spread about the Lubéron.

4. How is the potential for fire made more dangerous?

5. He explains that he must be ___________________ when he eats.

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Male find gold coins? Why does this matter to him?

2. What does Mayle learn from a woman during the concert? Do you believe her? Why or why not?

3. What is Provence eventually declared? To what does this lead? Will this help the region? Why or why not?

4. Why does Mayle decide to not install a security system? Is this a good reason? Why or why not?

5. Why does the author say that the dogs and owners resemble each other? Do you agree?

6. How does the chapter end? What does this reveal about those involved in dog shows?

7. What is one of the possible consequences of drought in the region? How does this lead to more problems?

8. How does the author describe Place Pie? What does this reinforce about him?

9. What is another consequence of the drought. How might this affect the revenue of the region?

10. What is pastis? Why is there a chapter about it?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Peter's wife has an interest in dogs.

Part 1) How is this interest revealed? How does this interest affect and influence events in the story? What is the purpose of including these details? What do these details reveal about the author, his wife, and others in the story?

Part 2) In what is Peter interested? How do you know this? How do his interests compare to those of his wife? How do these interests affect his behavior throughout the book?

Part 3) What are your own interests? How do they compare to those of the Mayles? How can you use your own interests to relate to the interests of the Mayles and events in this book?

Essay Topic 2

The Mayles go to a dog show.

Part 1) Why do they attend a dog show? What does the author observe while at this dog show? How is this connected to other parts of the story? What does this reinforce about the characters and their experiences in Provence?

Part 2) What does the author notice about the dogs and their owners? Do you agree with him? Why or why not? Why might the owners do this? Do you find this odd? Why or why not?

Part 3) How are the details of this dog show important to the author? How are the details of life, as a whole, in Provence important to the author? Why? How do these details affect the reader?

Essay Topic 3

Mayle discusses the life of a writer.

Part 1) What is Mayle's description of a writer? Why does he give this description? Is this description surprising to you? Why or why not? What does this description reveal about Mayle?

Part 2) How is the life of a writer important to this story? What does this story reveal about the life of a writer? Based on this book, what do you think about the life of a writer?

Part 3) How does the life of a writer compare to the lives of those in other careers? In what career would you like to be? Why? How does working in this career field compare to working in the field of writing?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,304 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample