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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which of the following most closely describes Kinbote's depiction by university drama students?
(a) A raving lunatic with no perception of reality.
(b) A pompus woman-hater with a German accent.
(c) A displaced Zemblan king on the run from assassins.
(d) A brilliant writer and professor who is loyal to his friend John Shade.

2. Of the following, which most accurately describes the lines in the first stanza of Canto One?
(a) They are symetrical.
(b) They lack punctuation
(c) They are written in ryhming couplets.
(d) They have the same number of words

3. John Shade is skeptical but he wants to believe in what?
(a) Religion.
(b) His lineage of Zemblan Kings.
(c) The after-life.
(d) His daughther is still alive.

4. When did John Shade begin Canto Two?
(a) On his wedding anniversary.
(b) On the anniversary of his daughter's death.
(c) July 5th.
(d) July 4th.

5. What was John Shade's "first book" as mentioned in Canto Four?
(a) Hebe's Cup.
(b) Nite Rote.
(c) Lolita.
(d) Dim Gulf.

6. What is the name of the secret group that sends an assassin after King Charles?
(a) The Freudians.
(b) The Shadows.
(c) The Marxists.
(d) The Extreme.

7. John Shade's daughter is how old at the beginning of Canto Three?
(a) 6 months.
(b) 18.
(c) A senior in high school.
(d) We don't know exactly, only that she's a small child.

8. In lines 936 and 937 of "Pale Fire" the phrase "I plow Old Zembla's fields" is used by John Shade as part of a metaphor for what literal activity?
(a) His relationship with his wife.
(b) Revisiting his Zemblan ancestry .
(c) The changing seasons.
(d) Shaving.

9. Canto Four contains a metaphor comparing this activity to John Shade's writing process?
(a) Bathing.
(b) Shaving.
(c) Showering.
(d) Gardening.

10. What does Shade find out when he tracks down the woman who had the same vision of the after-life that he did?
(a) She also had a daughter who passed away recently.
(b) She is married to Charles Kinbote.
(c) She is a Zemblan queen.
(d) She had a different vision.

11. Who does Kinbote blame for not receiving an invitation to John Shade's birthday party?
(a) Sybil Shade.
(b) Gradus.
(c) Dr. Sutton.
(d) John Shade.

12. When did John Shade meet his wife?
(a) During the depression.
(b) After his parents' funeral.
(c) Their senior year of high school.
(d) 40 years ago.

13. Once King Charles is outside his room he must escape from what part of the castle?
(a) The tower.
(b) The basement.
(c) The theater.
(d) The kitchen.

14. How do the people of Zembla aid in King Charles' flight?
(a) They dress like him to serve as decoys.
(b) They provide Charles refuge along the way.
(c) They create a distraction with a hot air balloon.
(d) They fight off the Extremists.

15. Kinbote notes that the poem alludes to what fictional character?
(a) Shakespeare's Henry VIII.
(b) King Charles.
(c) Lolita.
(d) Sherlock Holmes.

Short Answer Questions

1. While he makes his way through the mountains, King Charles stops to spend the night in which of the following places?

2. Who gives Kinbote information about John Shade's daughter?

3. What happened to Shade's parents when he was a boy?

4. Which Pope is mentioned in the commentary to Line 85?

5. Kinbote is steadfast in his assertion that "Pale Fire" was intended to be how many lines long?

(see the answer keys)

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