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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 Rhoda characterize herself at the end of Section 3?

2. In Section 2, Miss Lambert sits under a picture of whom?

3. How did the character who witnesses the kiss in Section 1 react to it?

4. Who is the first character to speak?

5. Which of the female characters seems most content with her place in life when the reader encounters her in Section 3?

Short Essay Questions

1. When the characters change locations in the text, it is not always noticeable. Identify why this is and the effect on the reader.

2. Describe how each character is presented in Section 1.

3. Overall, what should the reader take away as most significant from Section 1?

4. Describe the attitude of the characters towards each other prior to Percival's arrival in Section 4.

5. Why is it relevant that Bernard is the first speaker in Section 4?

6. Briefly analyze how the characters have developed as a group in the first two sections of the novel.

7. Describe how Section 2 is structured.

8. Characterize Bernard's attitude towards Louis as described in Section 3.

9. Which of the characters appears most at ease in Section 3, and why?

10. What is the significance of having each character introduce themselves by identifying a specific image in Section 1?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is the significance of Woolf choosing the passage of a single day as a metaphor for the passage of a group of lives from childhood to old age and even death? What about the metaphor is apt, and what does not seem proper? Why does Woolf include such a vast variety of images that do not always play into the central meaning of the text? What is the importance of the italicization of these passages? Elaborate as much as you can.

Essay Topic 2

Write a detailed essay which examines the many instances of foreshadowing in this novel. Of particular significance here is the way the characters appear in the first two sections to how they appear in the final sections. Consider comparing and contrasting the young and adult characters. Another good idea would be to look at Sections 4 and 8, the two most important sections which feature all of the characters in the same place and time. Pay particular attention to what emotions the characters have as children and how much these emotions carry over to their adult lives.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay which compares and contrasts any two of the sections' introductory vignettes. Pick one vignette which is typical of the whole novel, and one which is atypical (there are two in particular). What separates these vignettes? Include as many reasons as you can think of as to why Woolf would change her method at such a point in the text.

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