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. How is the sitting room at Einfried described?

2. How does the writer spend the majority of his time?

3. What was prescribed for Mrs. Kloterjahn's cough?

4. Why does Mr. Spinell say that he is really at Einfried?

5. When did Mrs. Kloterjahn first become ill?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is Miss van Osterloh said to feel reproachful towards men?

2. How does Mr. Spinell act towards Gabriele Kloterjahn?

3. How do we know that Mr. Kloterjahn is an Anglophile?

4. Why doesn’t Dr. Leander consult with Dr. Muller on Gabriele’s case?

5. What are Dr. Muller’s responsibilities?

6. What happens when a patient dies?

7. What are some of the activities that the patients occupy themselves with?

8. Why does Gabriele Kloterjahn’s inspect her handkerchief after she clears her throat?

9. Why does Mr. Spinell look at beautiful women out of the corner of his eye?

10. How does Mrs. Kloterjahn seem to feel about Mr. Spinell?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In Tristan, and many of his other works, Thomas Mann makes a commentary on the relationship between the artist and bourgeois society.What commentary does he seem to be making about this relationship? Does he feel that the artist fits well into bourgeois society? Why or why not? Which is healthier or more “normal” – to fit into society, or to have an artistic temperament? Why?

Essay Topic 2

At Einfried, most of the patients are tubercular. What significance does tuberculosis have for the novella? Why did Mann choose this particular disease to inflict on Gabriele Kloterjahn? How does the disease relate to Mann’s interpretation of the concepts of art and the artist? How does the story arc correspond to the progression of Gabriele’s illness?

Essay Topic 3

The concepts of Art and the Artist are key in Tristan.How does Mann view art? How does he view and characterize artists? Does he see the artistic impulse as a strength or a weakness? Why?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 582 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample