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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. What does Simone do when she wins the bet?

2. Who catches the couple in the parlor in the beginning of Chapter 2?

3. Where does Marcelle go to be alone?

4. What does the narrator dare Simone to do in Chapter 1?

5. What effect does the startling event at the beginning of Chapter 4 have on Simone?

Short Essay Questions

1. 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?

2. Explain why, despite being modest, Simone and the narrator have the relationship they have?

3. In Chapter 3, the narrator contemplates suicide. Explain why, and what happens to change his mind.

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

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

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

7. What does the couple see almost immediately after entering the sanitarium grounds, and how do they know this indicates Marcelle is involved?

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

9. How does the narrator explain Marcelle's features as she gazes at the ocean?

10. Explain what the narrator thinks as he chases down the unknown naked woman, and the reality of who the woman is.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

Compare and contrast the characters of Simone and Marcelle. What are their similarities? What are their differences? Why does each character change as they do throughout the novel? What are the motivations for their behaviors? What causes them to go insane? Who is responsible for their downward spirals? 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?

(see the answer keys)

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