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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 couple travel in Chapter 4?

2. What is served at the event in Chapter 2?

3. What causes the narrator to have a violent orgasm?

4. What does Simone smear herself with at the end of Chapter 1?

5. What does the narrator ask of Marcelle?

Short Essay Questions

1. Explain what Simone does with the saucer of milk in the first chapter.

2. Explain the mother's first encounter with the couple in their actions, and her reaction, as well as their reaction to the mother.

3. Describe the first meeting in Chapter 3 between Simone and the narrator following the orgy.

4. What happens when the narrator finds Simone, and what is the accidental result that rises Marcelle from her room?

5. What has happened to Marcelle after the orgy? How does the couple discover what has happened to Marcelle? What do they think of doing to help her?

6. What does the narrator explain causes his and Simone's sexual dream to turn in to a nightmare?

7. Explain the narrator's trip through the sanitarium.

8. What does Simone develop an urge to do with eggs at the beginning of Chapter 2?

9. Explain what the narrator does after fleeing the orgy and before seeking Simone.

10. Explain how the orgy in Chapter 2 takes place.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In Chapter 4, the narrator notes the curiosity that black-haired Simone wears a black garter belt and stockings, whereas blond Marcelle wears a white belt and stockings. This comparison, however, does far deeper than hair color and clothing choice. What is the author noting about the characters in this passage? Using the rest of the story, does this comparison hold true throughout the novel? Why or why not? What else can this comparison of light and darkness be used to represent? Why?

Essay Topic 2

Marcelle is transformed in the novel from a mutual, pious friend of Simone and the narrator to an insane, suicidal sexually deviant psychopath. Explain how and why this transformation occurred. What were signs in the novel that indicated these changes in Marcelle? What pushed her along the path of madness? What role did Simone and the narrator play in this path? What was the end result? Why?

Essay Topic 3

The narrator notes in the novel that people fear lewd behaviors because they have a secret desire to participate in them. Do you believe this is true? Why or why not? Does this statement explain the behaviors of the characters in the novel? Why or why not? If so, why are they willing to give in to such behaviors when other are not? If not, what is the real reason behind their activities?

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