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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. Why does Henry return to hustling meals and lodging?

2. What does Henry realize the moment he gets off the train in Dijon?

3. Who urges Henry to run away to Russia with Tania?

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

5. How is Henry greeted by Macha when he first meets her?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Henry feel going to his room in the dark dormitory late at night?

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

3. How do both Fillmore and Henry appear to be gullible?

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

5. Why is it that Henry does not want to go to Russia with Tania?

6. What do Henry's thoughts about the naked trollops represent?

7. Explain how Henry compares Paris to a whore.

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

9. What does Henry think about the English girl who stops him in the rain to ask for the time?

10. What is it about Boris that Henry can never quite understand?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write a paper on the power of words and how Miller's use of street language makes his novel so powerful. When reading THE TROPIC OF CANCER, does the vocabulary sometimes make you uncomfortable? Do you think that is exactly the reaction Miller hoped for? Discuss the difference in reading such a novel for its literary merits rather than for satisfying prurient curiosity.

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

Write a paper discussing Henry Miller's attitude toward women. Do you think he is clearly a sexist? Are there moments when he appears to be of two minds about the value of women? Include his thoughts viewing the graffiti on the lavatory walls and the way he looks at Boris' treatment of Elsa.

(see the answer keys)

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