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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. Where does the main character stroll past on her way home?

2. What is clear to the reader and to Captain Everard, but not to the main character?

3. How does the main character find out that Lady Bradeen's husband has discovered the affair with Captain Everard?

4. How long did stories need to be in James' time?

5. What warning does Miss Vernham give Dencombe?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does James address the superstition that fiction is diabolical?

2. What happens in the affair between Lady Bradeen and Captain Everard?

3. What is the tragedy of 'The Middle Years'?

4. Describe Marcher's lifestyle.

5. How does James address the formal rules prescribed for fiction?

6. Under what conditions does Spencer Brydon meet Miss Staverton again?

7. What is the telegraph operator's fiancée asking her to do?

8. What effect does the affair of Lady Bradeen and Captain Everard have on the telegraph operator?

9. Where do John Marcher and May Bartram meet in 'The Beast in the Jungle'?

10. What is the difference between the doctor's relationship with Dencombe and his relationship with the Countess?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is the role of women in James' stories? How are they distinguished from men? Are their roles distinct, or is there much overlap or ambiguity? What is the purpose or use of this interrelation?

Essay Topic 2

What makes Henry James an American author?

Essay Topic 3

What are the rules that govern James' storytelling? What can you surmise from his essays and stories? Do his stories and his essays agree?

(see the answer keys)

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