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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 request does Eduard make of the person who visits him in his solitude?

2. Where have the two young women mentioned in Part I, Chapter 1, been living for some years?

3. What does Ottilie set in the foundation stone with the other peoples' offerings?

4. What very capable person, who takes over the work of the landscape improvements, is the Captain very pleased with?

5. How did the master of the estate grow up?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Summarize the events which occur on Ottilie's birthday.

3. What does the Baroness discover about Eduard, and how does she react to it?

4. How does Ottilie act around the others when she arrives at the estate?

5. What is the general substance of the mason's address during the ceremony of the foundation stone of the pavilion?

6. Summarize the letters from the headmistress and the schoolmaster.

7. Summarize the concept of "elective affinities," and describe how the Captain, Eduard, and Charlotte formulate their discussion of this concept.

8. In Part I, Chapter 6, what activity becomes the clear marker of the shifting compatibilities of the four protagonists?

9. Describe Eduard's estate and his, the Captain's, and Charlotte's general plans for it.

10. How does Eduard change in the wake of his realization of his passion for Ottilie?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Choose two minor characters and discuss their significance to the main plot elements in which they appear, and how their presence, actions, or influence contribute to the thematic development of the novel as a whole. What are these minor characters' relationships with the four main characters, what social class do they occupy, and what of their personality traits seem important to you in describing their influence? How do the minor characters interact with and affect the main characters of the novel? What specific role do they have in the plot episode in which they appear? Do you think these characters or their presence in the novel symbolize anything? Suggestions for minor characters include: Herr Mittler, the architect, Luciane, Nanni, the Count, the Baroness, the schoolmaster, and the Englishman.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the role of Herr Mittler and the theme of mediation in the novel. What is Herr Mittler's role, and how does he "play his part" by interacting in specific ways with the other characters? How does the narrator act as a mediator between the reader and the characters, plot, and moral of the story? Mediation means to "come between" things--are there any other mediating forces in the novel, besides Mittler, such as other characters, events, settings, objects, ideas, and so on?

Essay Topic 3

Examine Ottilie's journal entries, which appear in Part II, Chapters 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, and 9. How do they offer insight into Ottilie's character? What is the significance of the style she writes in? What type of language does she use? What subject matter does she consider? Why might the narrator decide to place them where he does (at the ends of several chapters in Part II)? What is the significance of the context of each letter? Do these letters function to give Ottilie a new role in the novel? Discuss these letters' significance to the themes of fate and of personal agency in the novel, as these themes relate to Ottilie herself. Concentrate on Ottilie's specific word choice, subject matter, context, metaphorical or figurative language, and tone.

(see the answer keys)

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