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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 does the narrator afford the gifts he buys for the Swanns in "Mme Swann at Home"?

2. In "Swann In Love," what does Swann say he is studying whenever he is with Odette?

3. When does the narrator say his mother did not kiss him goodnight as a small child?

4. In "Place-Names," where does the narrator find Gilbert they day she is not at the park?

5. How does Mme. Swann tell the narrator secrets in a way that confuses him?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does M. Vinteuil do with his compositions in "Combray" that the narrator finds funny?

2. In "Combray," why does the narrator want to meet M. Swann's daughter?

3. What does the narrator learn about the Swanns when he talks about them with his mother in "Place-Names"?

4. What happens when the narrator's family decides to walk through Swann's Gardens after having not walked that way since M. Swann's marriage?

5. In "Place-Names," what does the narrator do every day after Gilberte leaves?

6. Why is the narrator not allowed to return to Champs-Elysees?

7. In "Mme. Swann at Home," what happens to the narrator's writing?

8. In "Overture," how do the narrator's aunts treat M. Swann?

9. In "Mme. Swann at Home," how does the narrator feel about his relationship with Gilberte?

10. What happens the first time the narrator meets Bergotte?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The narrator longs for a relationship with a woman. Choose three attempts at relationships, or desires for relationships, and analyze their successes and failures. What was the benefit to the narrator? What harmed him in the end? What does the theme of failed romance mean for this novel?

Essay Topic 2

Mme. Swann is a woman with a reputation. Explain how her reputation creates her value in the eyes of the other characters. What does she symbolize for her society and times?

Essay Topic 3

After a period of day-dreaming about Mme. Guermantes, the narrator becomes disillusioned with her. Follow the chain of events that takes the narrator from love to indifference. What does this change mean for the narrator? What does is represent in the larger picture of his society?

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