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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 begins to trouble Charles about his engagement to Ernestina?

2. What is Ernestina's reaction to the flowers Sam delivers from Charles?

3. What is Ernestina's great fear about marriage?

4. What is Charles' quandary over Sarah's disappearance?

5. What does Knowles say the novelist is?

Short Essay Questions

1. What makes Ernestina angry after Charles returns from London?

2. Sarah is described as not beautiful by any standards. What is it that captivates Charles so much when he first sees her face?

3. What makes Ernestina laugh uncontrollably and Aunt Tranter fear she and Charles might be having a quarrel?

4. Why does Sarah suggest that she will not leave Lyme Regis?

5. What is the explanation for Mrs. Poulteney's idea that the Ware Commons evokes Sodom and Gomorrah in her mind?

6. How does Sarah insist that the county is filled with women who are outcasts?

7. What are the indications of Charles as an eligible bachelor before his engagement to Ernestina?

8. What does Charles say to Sarah about morality?

9. How does Knowles interject himself into the novel?

10. When Charles and Sarah meet, how does Charles explain his agreeing to come?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In the novel, Aunt Tranter's only concern about Sam and Mary is whether they truly are in love and plan to marry. Charles, however, is held him to a much higher standard of behavior. Write an essay about your feelings toward double standards.

Essay Topic 2

Give your opinion about Sarah as a Victorian era feminist. Explain how she would fit into today's society much better than she did in her own time. Show how Sarah always makes the most out of the resources she has.

Essay Topic 3

Draw a relationship between the fossils Charles lookesfor and the Victorian society. Do you think Knowles uses the fossils as a metaphor for the petrified nature of the social and religious norms of that time? Explain your opinion.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 759 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample