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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. In Chapter 80, to what does Horacio liken madness?

2. What final instructions does Cortazar give for the end of the book?

3. Where do Horacio and his sister decide to stay in the dream in Chapter 123?

4. What is Chapter 47 supposed to be?

5. Why does Etienne get angry at Babs in Chapter 96?

Short Essay Questions

1. What do Ronald and Etienne discuss in Chapter 142?

2. Why are Etienne and Horacio shocked when they get to the old writers room in Chapter in 154?

3. What task does Morelli give Horacio and Etienne in Chapter 154?

4. What is Horacio's state of mind in this section?

5. How does Horacio get arrested at the Ponts des Arts in Chapter 36?

6. Professionally, what changes for Traveler, Horacio and Talita in this section?

7. How is Traveler affected by Horacio in this section?

8. How does the Serpent Club's final gathering end?

9. Describe the argument that Ossip and Horacio have in this section.

10. How does the novel end?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

An emotional change occurs in Horacio between the death of Rocamadour and Horacio's arrival in Buenos Aires. He tells Ossip he wants anonymity and develops a plan for his relationship with the Travelers. Write an essay about this shift from sensation to observation in Horacio. What does he want from Manu and Talita, and how does he go about getting it? Whom does he have to use in the process? Discuss how this attempt at dispassion eventually pushes him into a sort of madness. What is Cortazar saying about the need to express emotion, no matter how painful?

Essay Topic 2

HOPSCOTCH takes place in two large but intensely disparate cities: Paris and Buenos Aires. These two settings, and Horacio's attitude toward them, create two divergent tones within the novel. Write an essay about these two settings:

Part 1) What observations about the intellectual life in Paris does Horacio make at the beginning of the novel? How does this observation typify his attitude toward it as a setting? Write a paragraph noting several characters, locations and groups that represent the Paris of the novel.

Part 2) How is Buenos Aires markedly different from Paris in HOPSCOTCH? What is the tone of this setting, based upon the weather, the social gatherings, and the way in which Horacio must live in both? How is Buenos Aires more whimsical?

Part 3) Noting the differences between Paris and Buenos Aires above, write a summation paragraph discussing how the transition between the two locations indicates a shift in Horacio. What is the nature of this shift, and how does it affect him emotionally?

Essay Topic 3

HOPSCOTCH as a symbol figures into the novel in several different ways. Write an essay about the use of hopscotch as a literary device, focusing on three different uses of it in the novel?

Part 1) How does the title of the novel indicate an unorthodox way of reading it? Write a paragraph describing the table of instructions provided the reader and how it affects the reading of the novel. To what extent is the reader hopscotching when reading the text?

Part 2) At the end of Book 1, as Horacio is losing his mind and getting arrested in Paris, he begins to ruminate on the game of hopscotch. What does the game become a metaphor for in this rumination? How is this metaphor related to the early purposes of the game of hopscotch?

Part 3) Late in the novel, any reference to hopscotch indicates a loss of sanity on the part of the narrator. Write a summation essay about such references. Who is actually playing hopscotch, and how does Horacio lose grasp of this person's identity when he sees them playing?

(see the answer keys)

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