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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. When Mr. Pontellier checks in on his sons, he thinks that Raoul has:

2. Describe Mrs. Pontellier's eyes.

3. Who does Robert ask to perform for Mrs. Pontellier?

4. What does opening up to Madame Ratignolle do for Edna?

5. Where is Leonce when Edna returns from the Cheniere?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Despite his sudden departure, and the way in which she found out he was leaving, Edna really misses him. Why is his absence so painful for her?

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

4. Why do you think Mr. Pontellier is so enraged at his wife when he thinks Raoul has a fever?

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

6. Is Edna taking a big risk by going to the Lebrun house to find Mademoiselle Reisz's address?

7. What is the first impression the author gives of Mr. Pontellier?

8. Once Edna has returned to the cottage, she finds herself alone and contemplates her life. Does she feel that she has changed since arriving at the Grande Isle? Does she understand how these changes, however small or dramatic, could be life-changing for her?

9. In Chapter 11, Edna defies her husband. Is she victorious?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

At the end of Chapter 33, Robert and Edna sit in silence. He has called her cruel. Has Edna changed too much for him?

Essay Topic 2

In Chapter 30, when Edna has her guests over for her coup d'etat dinner party, there is a moment when she retreats into her own thoughts. "But as she sat there amid her guests, she felt the old ennui overtaking her; the hopelessness which so often assailed her, which came upon her like an obsession, like something extraneous, independent of volition. It was something which announced itself; a chill breath that seemed to issue from some vast cavern wherein discords walled. There came over her the acute longing which always summoned into her spiritual vision the presence of the beloved one, overpowering her at once with a sense of the unattainable."

What does this passage mean? What does is say about Edna at this point in her life?

Essay Topic 3

Is The Awakening a proper title for this novel? If you could name it something else, what would you name it and why?

(see the answer keys)

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