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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. Dinesen was always interested in writing and ________________.

2. What did Dinesen and her fiance plan to establish in the country in #52?

3. Who was Denys Finch Hatton?

4. In what year did Dinesen accept a marriage proposal?

5. Who proposed marriage to Dinesen?

Short Essay Questions

1. When and where was Isak Dinesen born and by what other names was she known?

2. What was Dinesen's family's reaction to her interest in Georg Brandes and Fredrick Nietzsche?

3. In addition to diseases, what were some of the losses that Dinesen suffered in her life that made her health fail in 1923?

4. What mental affliction might Dinesen have suffered from and what was the main symptom?

5. Who was Daisy Frijs and why was Dinesen drawn to her?

6. How could Dinesen's writing style best be characterized, and what was her most famous literary work?

7. What was the nature of Dinesen's relationship with her father and how did she address her feelings of loss after his death many years later?

8. How could Dinesen's marriage to Bror best be described?

9. Explain why Dinesen was drawn to the feminist movement of the early 20th century.

10. How has Dinesen's biography been compared to a novel?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

It is said that a writer writes what he knows and an artist creates what he knows. What does this statement mean? Did Dinesen write about what she knew? Give three examples to support your answer.

Essay Topic 2

Who was Thorkild Bjornvig and what role did he play in Isak Dinesen's life? Why was Bjornvig so important to Dinesen? Why did the relationship between the two end so disastrously?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the cultural climate in Europe in the mid-20th century and why Dinesen's work did not always meet with overwhelming acceptance. How did the perception of Dinesen's work change as the years passed? What was the reception of Dinesen's work in America? Explain.

(see the answer keys)

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