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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. With what do the landlady's daughters tease the old man?

2. What sound does the narrator hear when he is working in the sailor's room?

3. What does the narrator want to do before leaving Ylayali?

4. How does Ylayali hide her shyness at her opened corset?

5. What does the landlord call the old man?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why exactly does the narrator refuse the Chief's offer of an advance?

2. Who lives in the family room?

3. Why do you think Ylayali is disappointed in the narrator?

4. What happens to the narrator that makes him aware of his mental sluggishness?

5. Why is the narrator moved into the family room?

6. How does Queeny offend the narrator?

7. Why does the narrator not speak to the woman in black when he first sees her outside his apartment?

8. Why does the narrator not eat all of his cakes?

9. What ails the narrator at the start of Part 3?

10. How does the narrator react to seeing Ylayali with 'The Duke'?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the statement at the beginning of the novel, "This wonderous city that no one leaves before it has made its marks upon him." How does the author develop the ambiguity in this sentence? How do the other characters in the book seem to be living?

Essay Topic 2

Examine the book's chronological setting. What were the main social concerns of that period in Europe, and how do they relate to the narrator's experience? How would the story change if it were set today?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the author's use of nameless characters in the book. How do they enhance the naturalism?

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