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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 is the name of Elliott's costume?

2. To what city is Larry taking a ship?

3. What city in Spain does Larry visit?

4. What is the name of Ganesha's compound?

5. Why does Isabel plant the vodka?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Suzanne become a successful artist?

2. What does Maugham imagine about Isabel and Gray's life in Texas?

3. Do you think there is anything suspicious about the incident with the vodka?

4. In what way does Sophie embody the book's theme of good and evil?

5. Why is Elliott so upset at not being invited to Edna's party?

6. How does the reader know that Isabel is still in love with Larry?

7. In what way does Maugham criticize the church?

8. In what ways does the story end happily?

9. What does Larry learn about evil in India?

10. Describe the cafe in which Maugham and Larry drink?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The novel is set mostly in Paris.

1) What meaning does Paris bring to the novel? What would you automatically presume about a novel that was set in Paris?

2) How different do you think today's Paris is to the Paris in the novel? How do you think the novel's meaning would change if it were set in today's Paris?

3) How do you think the Paris settings of the novel contributes to the novel's spiritual meaning?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss whether you think this statement is true or false: "The Razor's Edge foreshadows beat literature and Larry is an early example of an American beatnik." Use two examples from the novel to support your argument.

Essay Topic 3

Examine Bohemian life.

1)What are Bohemians? What are their ideas on life? From where do they get their ideas?

2) What influence have Bohemians had on popular culture?

3) Why is it important for Larry to live the Bohemian life? What do you think Larry will achieve by being a Bohemian?

(see the answer keys)

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