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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 did Mrs. Stein bring to California?

2. What famous school did Gertrude Stein attend?

3. Who painted a portrait of Gertrude Stein?

4. Which was not a passion for Fernande?

5. Who did Alice meet during her travels?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is it difficult for Alice to relate to her family's military service?

2. Gertrude Stein left California when she was 17-years-old. The author describes the writer as having a drastic change of lifestyle when she moved to the East Coast. What was the main change in Gertrude's life at that time?

3. Why was Gertrude grateful to have failed to receive her degree from Johns Hopkins?

4. What was referred to as "un petit Luxembourg?"

5. Alice remembers a collection of photographs, kept by Gertrude Stein of the Americans the war. Why did these photographs upset Picasso?

6. Of the Americans that visited Paris, Picasso approved of very few. One woman of which Picasso approved was referred to as the Empress. Describe her.

7. Why does Gertrude Stein spend two years living in Baltimore?

8. How did Gertrude's father handle the separation and move to Vienna?

9. In 1913, Helene left of the Stein household. What prompted the departure?

10. Why did they Toklas say that war was not weighing heavily on people's minds in London?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Stein says that there is a big difference in the attitudes of Americans and Europeans in regard to work ethic and material possessions. Americans are much more obsessed with both while Europeans are satisfied with enjoying life and all it has to offer. One good example of this is Matisse's reaction to the house in Clamart. Examine the difference in these points between Stein and her European friends.

Essay Topic 2

Stein's first vehicle could be used as a metaphor in the story. At the time, the war was preparing to erupt and it was important to be able to preserve one's freedom. Explain how the car symbolized freedom.

Essay Topic 3

Much of the book details the relationships between Stein and a lengthy cast of characters. Most of the characters are famous painters and authors although many are academics, friends and relatives that bear little impact on the story as a whole. Why were these people included in the book? Do you feel that the inclusion helped or hindered the picture Stein was trying to paint of life in Paris?

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