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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 favor does Van Norden want Henry to do for him?

2. What is Van Norden's objection to French girls?

3. How do Henry and Fillmore become conspicuous in the church?

4. What is the wild story Macha first tells Fillmore?

5. At three o'clock in the morning, what is going on in Fillmore's apartment?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the one thing that makes Van Norden's dump of a hotel acceptable?

2. How does Henry start out to spend his last night in Paris before going to Dijon?

3. How does Henry see flow of the word about him?

4. Why does Kruger evict Henry from his studio?

5. What is it about Van Norden that puzzles Henry?

6. Why does Henry think it is a sorry state to be human?

7. Explain how Henry compares Paris to a whore.

8. What is Fillmore's reason for being so considerate of Henry?

9. Describe the idea Henry and Carl get from Van Norden.

10. What makes Henry think about the high born women of Paris?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

Write a paper on whether you think Henry Miller accomplished what he set out to do with this novel. Refer back to passages in the book where he talks about what literature should be. Is he justified in writing honestly about the way men and women actually view their sexuality?

Essay Topic 3

Re-read Chapters 14 and 15 about Henry's stay in Dijon as a visiting professor. Then write an essay about fear. Mention in your essay such things as being in a strange place, being separated from friends and relatives, and feeling helpless to get out of a bad situation.

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This section contains 677 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample