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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 Mr. Spinell feel about the name Kloterjahn?

2. Who does not get to participate in the activity Dr. Leander plans?

3. Why does Mr. Spinell say that he does not despise Mr. Kloterjahn?

4. Why did Gabriele’s father eventually let her marry Mr. Kloterjahn?

5. When did Gabriele’s mother die?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Mr. Spinell ultimately convince Mrs. Kloterjahn to play piano?

2. What has Mr. Kloterjahn supposedly done to Gabriele, according to Mr. Spinell's letter in Chapter 10?

3. What does Mr. Kloterjahn do in response to Mr. Spinell's letter?

4. How is the letter that Mr. Spinell writes in Chapter 10 described?

5. According to Mr. Spinell, why is what he is saying to Mr. Kloterjahn in Chapter 10 not an insult?

6. What story does Mr. Spinell want to tell in the letter he composes in Chapter 10?

7. What does Dr. Muller recommend in Chapter 9?

8. According to Mr. Klotejahn in Chapter 11, what were Gabriele and her friends really doing in the garden by the fountain?

9. What is the piece of music that Mr. Spinell is so excited to find?

10. How much of the music that Mr. Spinell found in Chapter 8 does Mrs. Kloterjahn play?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Thomas Mann had a very distinct style that included the use of parataxis. Why did he choose to write in a long-winded manner? Was he a precise writer? Why or why not? Did the fact that he wrote in German have anything to do with his use of parataxis? What advantages and disadvantages does the use of parataxis hold for the writer? What advantages and disadvantages does its use hold for the reader?

Essay Topic 2

Mr. Spinell, though paying to stay at Einfried for treatment, does not seem to be actually ill. What does this say about his character? How does his lack of illness relate to his identification as an artist? Why does he want to appear ill? If, as Mann seems to be stating, the artist is inherently a creature of sickness and Mr. Spinell is not sick, can he truly be said to be an artist?

Essay Topic 3

Health and sickness are major themes in the novella. Which characters embody health? Which characters embody sickness? What other qualities or characteristics are found in the sick characters? In the healthy characters? What does Mann appear to be saying about the significance of health and sickness?

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