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. What does Catherine insist on searching before Hal leaves?

2. Why is Claire selling the house?

3. What is Hal's excuse for kissing Catherine?

4. What does Hal discover in the notebook?

5. Where did Catherine get the dress she wore to the funeral?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Claire want Catherine to come to New York?

2. Why has Hal come to the house?

3. What is Hal's song Imaginary Number?

4. Why is it strange that Catherine and Robert are speaking in the beginning of the first scene?

5. What is Hal's excuse for kissing Catherine?

6. Why does Hal try to take the notebook?

7. What does Robert reveal about Catherine's state of mind in the first scene?

8. How does Catherine describe Robert's mathematical processes?

9. Why does Hal think his papers get turned down for publication?

10. Why is Hal's entrance at the end of the scene helpful for Catherine?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Hal feels some sort of a connection to Catherine. When she is catatonic in bed, he insists to Claire that Catherine may talk to him.

1.) What events my have led Hal to feel more connected with Catherine?

2.) Could he feel guilty and somewhat responsible for her breakdown?

3.) Is Hal a victim of circumstance, or could he have handled the situation more graciously?

Essay Topic 2

Hal and Robert are each afraid of getting old and losing their edge. They think mathematics is a young man's game, and very quickly a mathematician is past his prime.

1.) Could this idea have anything to do with Robert's illness? He works so hard to match his former genius, but cannot---could this be a contributing factor?

2.) Hal jokes that he has resigned himself to a teaching position. Do you think there is more it? Is Hal disappointed in his own lack of genius?

3.) Describe the lengths mathematicians go to in order to retain their edge, as described by Hal. How competitive is this field?

Essay Topic 3

After the funeral, Catherine and Hal spend the night together.

1.) What are the factors that bring them together?

2.) How are they each tied to the memory of Robert? Is Catherine warding off the pain by succumbing to something physical?

3.) Who is the aggressor? Are they equally attracted to each other?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 683 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample