View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Hans feel about his cigars losing their flavor?

2. Who listens to a concert in Chapter 4?

3. Who does Settembrini flirt with at the end of Chapter 3?

4. What does Hans think about the portrait of his grandfather in his civic costume as town councilor?

5. What is kept very discreet at the Berghof?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Hans see and hear on his first full day at the Berghof?

2. Who is Hans Castorp, where is he at the beginning of Chapter 1, and how does it make him feel?

3. How does Settembrini feel about music?

4. Describe Hans and Settembrini's conversation at the beginning of Chapter 5.

5. Who do Hans and Joachim encounter during their walk, and what does he say?

6. What do Hans and Joachim do on Sunday in Chapter 4?

7. What does Joachim explain to Hans about the woman called Tous-les-deux at their first breakfast in Chapter 3?

8. What happens when Hans arrives late to Dr. Krokowski's lecture in Chapter 4?

9. Who does Hans meet during his first few weeks at the Berghof?

10. How does Hans' interactions with Clavdia affect his health?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Investigate "The Magic Mountain" as a bildungsroman. How does it adhere to and differ from the bildungsroman novel? What changes could be made to mark it more clearly as a bildungsroman? What changes could be made to prevent critics from classifying the novel as a bildungsroman?

Essay Topic 2

How do the minor characters in the novel affect the plot? How would the novel be different if one or more of these characters were removed?

Essay Topic 3

Why is it significant that Mann discloses Hans' past? How does this affect the reader? What does this clarify or confuse within the text?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 809 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample