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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 Robert do while Mrs. Pontellier paints?

2. What does Edna do at Madame Antoine's?

3. And what does Leonce do when Edna asks him to come to bed?

4. What does Mademoiselle Reisz say to Edna after her performance?

5. Raoul's condition prompts Mr. Pontellier to accuse his wife of:

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe Edna's feelings when she learns Robert is leaving for Mexico.

2. What do you think compelled Edna to jump into the ocean for a swim?

3. Why does Adele urge Robert not to pursue Edna?

4. Do you think Mr. Pontellier is too angry and too demanding when he gets angry at his wife for breaking their Tuesday routine?

5. Why does Edna cry so hard after her husband scolds her for being what he considers a neglectful mother?

6. What do you think the author means when she says Edna was beginning to understand her place in the universe as a woman and as a human being?

7. The author says that Edna's will had blazed up. However, Leonce has a strong will, too. What is going on in this chapter? How is the Pontellier marriage changing?

8. Is Leonce at all upset that his wife has been away with another man?

9. Why does Edna throw such a violent fit after Leonce takes off to have dinner at the club?

10. What do we learn is different about Mrs. Pontellier from the other wives who summer at the Grande Isle?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Is The Awakening a critique of women's stature in the late 19th century? Was Kate Chopin taking a risk by writing this at the time she did?

Essay Topic 2

What do you think of the final moments in Edna's life? Was she a coward for taking her own life? Or, was she brave in making the final decision on how to conclude her life?

Essay Topic 3

At one point, Edna says that "Her marriage to Leonce Pontellier was purely an accident." Why?

(see the answer keys)

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