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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. How do the extremists learn the King has escaped?

2. How does John Shade understand his life?

3. Why does young King Charles refuse to consummate his relationship with Fleur?

4. Charles Kinbote "mercifully " attributes this name to one professor, perhaps due to his green jacket.

5. Which of the following best describes John Shade's daughter?

Short Essay Questions

1. What do we learn about King Charles X in Canto Two?

2. Name some sports at which Kinbote is proficient.

3. Give a brief synopsis of King Charles' escape.

4. Briefly describe Fleur.

5. What are two major criticisms John Shade has of his students? How is this ironic?

6. Give some examples of translation as a theme in Canto One.

7. How does John Shade describe himself as a youth in Canto One?

8. Briefly describe John Shade's vision of the after-life.

9. What is significant about the bird in Canto One?

10. Provide an example or two of the reflection motif found between the commentary to lines 131 and the commentary to lines 162.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Cite specific examples of supernatural events in the novel Pale Fire.

How does Nabokov incorporate both real and phony supernatural events (such as fake seances) into the novel?

Why do you think he chooses to handle these events in such a manner?

What does this accomplish?

Essay Topic 2

At what point in the novel did you suspect Charles Kinbote was not mentally sound?

How does his dementia progress throughout the novel?

How does his grasp of reality change the way you perceive the events of the novel?

Do you think Zembla is a real place in the world created by Nabokov in Pale Fire, or a figment of Charles Kinbote's imagination?

Essay Topic 3

On page 156, in the commentary to Line 172, John Shade bemoans the way most of his students read and interpret literature.

Relate Shade's thoughts in the final paragraph on page 156 to the way Kinbote interprets the poem "Pale Fire."

How does Kinbote respond to Shade's commentary?

What does this tell us about Kinbote?

(see the answer keys)

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