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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. In what year does the narrative of the The Great Believers begin its story?

2. Who appears to be very sick when Charlie and Yale get together with their friends?

3. Fiona is worried about her daughter's well-being for what reason?

4. Every time Nico introduced Fiona to someone new, he had said, "This is the lady who" (3) what?

5. Whom does Yale go to visit in the hospital when he returns home to find someone missing?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is ironic about the location at which Yale meets Charlie?

2. What is described as the only disappointment within Nora's art collection as the authentication process moves forward?

3. In what way had Fiona spend her twentieth birthday and how had it contrasted with her twenty-first birthday?

4. With what aspect of Arnaud's investigation is Fiona frustrated?

5. What place does Fiona name as being a location in which she will definitely not find Claire and why?

6. Yale's boss Bill keeps stopping by to report what details?

7. How does the dream motif arise early in Fiona's time in Paris?

8. Characterize the relationship between Nico and his parents prior to his death.

9. What realization does Yale make while in the bathroom with Julian at the party?

10. In what location is the wake celebrating Nico's death held?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What message does Makkai send within the pages of The Great Believers concerning the definition of family?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the reasons why Makkai chooses not to title the novel’s chapters. What elements of the novel's themes lend themselves to this choice and what are Makkai’s intended effects on the reader?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the instances of irony within the narrative of The Great Believers and analyze Makkai’s purpose for including each instance you discuss.

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