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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. Which of the following pieces does the protagonist first play on her violin?

2. With which of the following does I end?

3. Which of the following astronomers does the protagonist report admiring?

4. Through what agency does the protagonist purchase a violin?

5. How old is the protagonist’s brother when their mother dies?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the protagonist cite as the incident inciting her seeking admission at Stella Maris?

2. Why does the protagonist note having reacted badly to her childhood ophthalmologist?

3. What is the significance of the Fields Medal?

4. How does the protagonist explain Grothendieck’s activism?

5. How does the protagonist explain the decision to commit herself, rather than to be committed?

6. What, per the novel, is Gabelsberger?

7. How does the protagonist explain her affinity for mental health inpatients?

8. How does the protagonist note arriving at the Kid’s height?

9. What compelled the protagonist’s family to move to Wartburg?

10. What reason is given for Grothendieck leaving the IHES?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

To what other writer’s work in your experience does McCarthy’s seem most similar? What makes the writers similar? What differentiates them? Overall, which do you regard as doing better at the craft of writing, and why?

Essay Topic 2

While the novel is told from a third-person perspective, much of it is narrated by the protagonist rehearsing events to an interlocutor. How reliable is the protagonist of the novel as a narrator? What in the text indicates that reliability, and how does it do so?

Essay Topic 3

In the novel, some characters are given but one name, while others are given first names and surnames, and still others are accorded names and titles. What significance, if any, accrues to patterns of naming in the novel? If no significance accrues, what purpose might be served by the patterns of naming in the novel? How does Stella Maris bear as much out?

(see the answer keys)

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