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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 does the consul continue to do as he heads up the mountain?

2. What final reason does Yvonne give about why she wants to leave Laruelle's home?

3. Where do the police begin to take the consul?

4. Who does the consul claim had the right to die?

5. What kind of atmosphere does the bus have?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does no one offer to help the man who gets on the bus who has clearly been mugged?

2. What does Yvonne see the bull as a symbol of?

3. Why dues Hugh jump into the arena to try to ride the bull?

4. Why is Yvonne really in such a hurry to leave Laruelle's home?

5. Why does the consul want the sun to stand still after the bus ride he takes with Yvonne and Hugh?

6. What is the real reason why the consul wants to stay at Laruelle's house even though Yvonne wants to leave?

7. What causes Yvonne and the consul to feel happy and in love again during the bull fight?

8. What about Yvonne's letter depresses the consul as he is heading up the mountain?

9. How does the consul ultimately die?

10. What does the consul's desire for the sun not to set foreshadow?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Compare and contrast the characters of Yvonne and the whore with whom the consul sleeps right before his death. What message is Lowry trying to convey through these two characters?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss three things that Yvonne's passion for and knowledge of astronomy symbolizes in "Under the Volcano."

Essay Topic 3

What is the reader supposed to assume happens to Hugh? Make sure to use direct evidence from at least three instances in the text that you feel supports your thesis.

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