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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. What is the symptom that indicates Gabriele is worsening in Chapter 9?

2. What does Mrs. Kloterjahn think of Mr. Spinell?

3. What does Mr. Spinell do when he sees an infant from his window?

4. How is Gabriele’s health by Chapter 7?

5. How does Mr. Spinell look as at the end of his walk?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Mr. Spinell do before leaving the room in Chapter 8, after Gabriele played the piano?

2. How much of the music that Mr. Spinell found in Chapter 8 does Mrs. Kloterjahn play?

3. Why does Mr. Kloterjahn call Mr. Spinell a coward?

4. How does Mr. Spinell ultimately convince Mrs. Kloterjahn to play piano?

5. Why does Mr. Spinell say he is writing a letter in Chapter 10?

6. According to Mr. Klotejahn in Chapter 11, what were Gabriele and her friends really doing in the garden by the fountain?

7. How does Mr. Spinell describe the scene within his letter in Chapter 10?

8. According to Mr. Spinell, why is what he is saying to Mr. Kloterjahn in Chapter 10 not an insult?

9. What eventually convinced Gabriele’s father to let her marry Mr. Kloterjahn?

10. How do we know that playing the piano has put a strain on Gabriele Kloterjahn?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Thomas Mann had a very distinct style that included the use of parataxis. Why did he choose to write in a long-winded manner? Was he a precise writer? Why or why not? Did the fact that he wrote in German have anything to do with his use of parataxis? What advantages and disadvantages does the use of parataxis hold for the writer? What advantages and disadvantages does its use hold for the reader?

Essay Topic 2

Examine Mr. Spinell’s character and how he embodies the major themes in Tristan. How does Mann characterize Mr. Spinell? What commentary does Mann seem to be making about artists through the character of Mr. Spinell? What commentary does he seem to be making about society in general?

Essay Topic 3

Mr. Spinell and Gabriele Kloterjahn are the two main characters in Tristan. Can one or both of these two characters be said to be the protagonist? Why or why not? If not one of them, is there a protagonist? Who is it? How is a protagonist defined?

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