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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 Ada want to give Lucette a bath?

2. What garment of clothing does Van chide Ada for not wearing?

3. What is the "eremitic reality or collective dream" Van discusses in his dissertation called?

4. Who is at home when Van first arrives at Ardis Hall?

5. What game did Van win in a match against Pat Rishin at Chose in 1887?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Ada have to do before she can go off and meet Van in private in Chapter 20?

2. How does Marina describe Jews to her daughter?

3. How does Dick cheat at cards, and how does Van best him?

4. What did Ada do when Dr. Krolik died?

5. How does Van feel about Marina?

6. What causes Lucette to follow Ada and Van around in Chapter 34?

7. How does Van first see Ada?

8. What are the rules of marriage among relatives that Van and Ada discuss?

9. Where and in what circumstances do Van and Ada first have sex?

10. How does Van feel about Cordula?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the novel's portrayal of men and women.

1) How are men and women's experience of sexuality different in the novel? How are they treated differently by society?

2) What does success mean for men and women in the novel? How is it different because of gender?

3) What are men and women's intellectual pursuits in the novel? How are they different because of gender?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the relationships between parents and children in the novel.

1) How does Van relate to Aqua? How does he relate to Demon? How does he relate to Marina? What does he get from each of these parental figures, and how do they affect him?

2) How does Marina relate to Ada and Lucette? How does she influence them? Compare her influence to the influence of the governess.

3) What influence does Dan have as a parent? How do Lucette and Ada relate to him?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss madness in the novel.

1) What is Aqua's madness in the novel? Why does she go from sanitarium to sanitarium, and why does she kill herself?

2) What types of madness do Van's patients display? Why do mad patients see visions of Terra in the novel?

(see the answer keys)

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