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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 many drinks does it take for the consul to get steady on his feet after not drinking?

2. What kind of animal does Yvonne try to buy at the brewery?

3. How does the consul's adulthood compare to what he dreamed about as a boy?

4. What animal does Hugh rent for him and Yvonne during their walk?

5. What event is happening when the novel beings?

Short Essay Questions

1. What two desires torment the consul?

2. Why does Hugh feel that his youth is gone?

3. Where is the consul sent to live, as a young boy, after his parents died?

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 does Yvonne say to Hugh about armadillos?

6. How does Hugh react to Yvonne's plans for her and the consul?

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

8. Why does Hugh decide to become a reporter?

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Analyze three of the consul's hallucinations and discuss 1) what each shows the reader about the consul's declining health as well as 2) at least one literary device Lowry uses in each hallucinatory episode to convey what is happening, in the consul's mind, to the reader.

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

Discuss the role of women in "Under the Volcano" and at least three literary devices Lowry uses when presenting female characters in the novel.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 694 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample