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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. On the second Wednesday of September, what time does Selin meet Peter and the other English teachers from the Hungary program?

2. After Selin watches The Usual Suspects what does she see Svetlana is eating in the Quincy dining hall?

3. What does Lakshmi's father do for a living?

4. When Selin checks her email in "The First Week," what is the date of the only email from Ivan?

5. What does Selin listen to when she goes to use the Mather house library in "The Fourth Week"?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Selin say about taking an extra class in "The First Week"?

2. What type of scholarship do Joanne and the other Singaporean students have at Harvard?

3. In "The Fourth Week," where does Selin go when she is tired of a conversation in her suite's common room?

4. What does Selin learn about Kierkegaard's book Either/Or by reading the introduction?

5. What type of bag did Selin buy for her sophomore year of college?

6. Where did Svetlana spend her summer and how was her trip?

7. At the beginning of "The Fourth Week," where do Selin, Riley, Priya, and Joanne go shopping and what does Selin buy?

8. Who does Selin sit with at dinner in "The Third Week"?

9. When did Selin know that she wanted to become a novelist?

10. Where was Selin's block assigned, and where did Riley get them transferred?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Selin has an aversion to having children. What are Selin’s views on parenthood and children? Why does she hold those views? How has her childhood influenced her views?

Essay Topic 2

In Either/Or, some characters are more thoroughly described than others. Who are some characters that are merely named in passing or have a minor role in the novel? What is the importance of these flat characters to the storyline? In what way do these characters make the main character more colorful or interesting? When there is conflict, what type of role do these flat characters play?

Essay Topic 3

Artistic license is how an author creates, art, music, or writing based on her interpretation of life. How does Batuman use artistic license to create the realistic background of Either/Or?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 930 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample