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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. How does Quincey respond to the consul?

2. Where has Hugh been living while on assignment?

3. What is unique about the book the bartender returns to Laruelle in Chapter 1?

4. Why did Hugh want to go into music as a career?

5. What does the consul compare his nerves to when he doesn't have alcohol?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Yvonne say to Hugh about armadillos?

2. Why is the consul afraid of the doctor when he approaches him at Quincey's?

3. Why does Hugh not know about the state of the consul's and Yvonne's marriage?

4. Why is the letter significant that the mailman brings, from Yvonne to Laruelle, while Yvonne is there with Hugh and the consul?

5. What can the consul not forget during the town's festival?

6. Why does Hugh feel cheated out of his experience at sea?

7. What does the consul begin to think about Yvonne after her bath?

8. What kind of relationship do Hugh and Yvonne have?

9. How does Yvonne react to seeing the consul when she returns to Quauhnahuac?

10. Why does Hugh decide to become a reporter?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Given what you know about Malcolm Lowry, write an argument about how "Under the Volcano" is semi-autobiographical. Make sure to use facts from Lowry's life as well as direct evidence from the text to support your position.

Essay Topic 2

Compare and contrast the deaths of Yvonne and the consul. What message is Lowry trying to convey to the reader in each?

Essay Topic 3

Using Laruelle, Yvonne, or the consul as an example, discuss at least three ways that a character's flashbacks to his or her childhood lets the reader understand more about a character. Use direct evidence from the text to support your argument.

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This section contains 800 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample