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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. Why does Katharine panic when she is in the desert?

2. What does Hana use to rebuild the parts of missing staircases in the villa?

3. How is the English patient's love affair described?

4. When Kip and Caravaggio go into the valley, what does Hana do?

5. Who tries to talk Hana into leaving the villa with him?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Katharine decide to breaks off her affair with the English patient?

2. What activities do Hana and the English patient do together?

3. Describe Kip and his fascination with religious symbols.

4. How does Chapter 5 foreshadow later events in the novel?

5. What do you think of the relationship between Hana and the English patient by the end of Chapter 1? Why?

6. Describe the significance of the Geographical Society in the story.

7. What sort of presence does Kip have on the other characters in the villa?

8. Describe the setting of Chapter 1.

9. What impact has the war had on Hana?

10. How does the relationship between Hana and Kip foreshadow later events in the novel?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How is Ondaatje's story ultimately resolved? Do you think the plot was adequately resolved? In your opinion, what could have been added (or removed) to make it more meaningful?

Essay Topic 2

How does Ondaatje incorporate the concept of man versus self in his novel? Which character do you think is the best example of man versus self and why?

Essay Topic 3

Identify the climax of this story and the series of events leading up to the climax. How did characters respond to the climax? What did Ondaatje include in his story to insure that the climax would be as powerful and meaningful as possible?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 670 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample