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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 does Emmie say that she and Cincinnatus should do after he is rescued?

2. What do women throw at Cincinnatus as he passes on the way to his execution?

3. What happens to the prison as Cincinnatus leaves it?

4. What does Cincinnatus have trouble deciding about his letter to Marthe?

5. How does Cincinnatus feel when he wakes on the scheduled morning of his execution?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Cincinnatus respond to Pierre's speech?

2. What is on the list of acceptable last requests that Pierre reads?

3. What announcements does the deputy city director make before the execution?

4. How does Pierre act during his chess game with Cincinnatus?

5. Describe the plot of Quercus.

6. What reason does Pierre give Cincinnatus for pretending to be a prisoner?

7. What inconsistency in Cecilia C.'s clothes does Cincinnatus point out?

8. What did Cecilia C. ask Marthe for, and what was Marthe's response?

9. How does Rodion act toward Cincinnatus?

10. What does Emmie's mother describe as Emmie's last prank before going back to school?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss Cincinnatus's character and how others perceive him in the novel.

1) What does Cincinnatus's writing reveal about his character?

2) How do other people perceive and treat Cincinnatus in the novel? What character flaws do others point out to him? Is there any truth in these accusations?

3) How does Cincinnatus change over the course of the novel?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the importance of the librarian in the novel.

1) What does the librarian's job say about him?

2) How does the librarian react to the other characters and the culture that surrounds him? How does he react to Pierre and the prison director?

3) Why does Cincinnatus try to communicate and make a connection with the librarian near the end of the novel? What does the librarian's reaction say about him? What is the librarian's reaction at the beheading, and what does this indicate?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss symbolism and metaphor in the novel.

1) What things are described as being off-center in the novel? What does this represent in the novel?

2) What does the spider represent in the novel? What does the moth that is almost fed to the spider represent?

3) What do nonnons represent? Why does Cecelia C. tell the story of nonnons?

4) Why does Cincinnatus take himself apart several times during the novel? What does this represent? What do some of the other absurd or surreal events in the novel represent?

5) What does the prison itself represent? Do the characters have symbolic or metaphoric meaning?

(see the answer keys)

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