View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the name of Charlotte's daughter?

2. What is the name of the peasant girl who attaches herself to Ottilie?

3. What becomes the focus of Eduard's efforts regarding the landscape improvements around the estate?

4. Whom does Eduard send to speak with Ottilie in private?

5. What personality trait is notable about Ottilie?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Ottilie and Charlotte's relationship change in Part I, Chapter 17?

2. How does Eduard explain to Mittler how he feels and acts?

3. Summarize the event which results in Eduard finding himself attracted to Ottilie.

4. What event leads to a sexually charged encounter between Charlotte and the Captain, and how does Charlotte react to it?

5. Briefly summarize the story behind Eduard and Charlotte's marriage.

6. What changes in the Captain's future situation come to light in Part I, Chapter 14?

7. How do the four protagonists' relationships change after Eduard evinces a passion for Ottilie?

8. Where on the estate do the four protagonists increase their work, and for what coming occasion?

9. How does Ottilie occupy herself after Charlotte and Eduard's confrontation and Eduard's subsequent actions?

10. Describe Eduard's and the Captain's interactions with members of the lower social classes.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Examine Luciane's character. What is her relation to Charlotte and Ottilie? How does Luciane's character compare specifically to Ottilie's character? What words or phrases best describe Luciane? What is notable about her interactions with others, and how do other characters feel about her and her presence at the estate? Does the narrator, through his use of tone or word choice, present Luciane in any particular manner? How does her characterization address the theme of self-contradiction in the novel? How does her character address the theme of public life versus private life in the novel?

Essay Topic 2

Apply the principle of "elective affinities," as discussed by Eduard, Charlotte, and the Captain in Part I, Chapter 4, to the novel in its entirety. Provide a short summary of the essence of the idea of elective affinities: what is it, and in which disciplines is it particularly useful? How do Eduard, Charlotte, and the Captain understand and explain this principle? Where do you find this principle most present in the various relationships between the four protagonists? Do you find aspects of elective affinities present in any of the minor characters, or in any of the portions of the novel that are not strictly related to the plot (such as letters, journals, and other stories)?

Essay Topic 3

Compare and contrast the characters of Charlotte and Ottilie. How does the narrator describe them? How are their characters similar, and how do they differ? What is their relationship like at the beginning, middle, and end of the novel? What events, people, objects, or circumstances inform each woman's decisions, thoughts, feelings, and actions? What motivates each woman? How does the narrator treat each woman through the way he describes them and the specific language or tone he uses?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,184 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample