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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 Nanantatee's stated profession?

2. Having gone all day without anything to eat, what enters Henry's mind?

3. Where has Henry taken the young Hindu for his sexual experience?

4. About what does Serge want to learn?

5. What is Henry thinking about as he walks along the Champs-Elysee?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is Henry so generous with his praise of the prostitute Germaine?

2. Why does Henry go so often to the American Express office?

3. Describe Henry's friends in Paris.

4. What had Henry hoped for when he met Serge?

5. What are Henry's evenings with Carl like?

6. How does Henry contrast a merry-go-round and the Germans?

7. Why does Henry leave the apartment when Boris sits down to eat?

8. How does Henry see the American women at the Cafe de la Paix or the Ritz Bar?

9. How does Henry describe the relationship between him, Boris, and Elsa?

10. Why does Henry like eating with the Cronstadts the best?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Miller addresses the idea of the artist suffering for his or her art. Do some research and and compare Henry's suffering with some other writers and artists who went through difficult times in order to produce masterpieces. You might want to include such people as Edgar Allen Poe, James Fenimore Cooper, Michelangelo, or Edith Piaf in your essay.

Essay Topic 2

In American lore, the idea of staying somewhere that George Washington once slept has a kind of romantic appeal. In the TROPIC OF CANCER, Van Norden's dumpy hotel is made appealing by the hint that Maupassant once lived there. Henry goes to see the room where Strindberg once stayed. Write an essay about a place you would like to visit because some person you admire once stayed or lived there.

Essay Topic 3

One of the more amusing antics in the novel is the letter writing campaign to find Carl a rich wife. Write an essay expressing your opinion about marrying for money versus marrying for love. Let your creativity flow, using humor to get your points across.

(see the answer keys)

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