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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. Why does John Dowell laugh at Leonora Ashburnham when she says she can't "accept the situation" between Florence Dowell and Captain Edward Ashburnham?

2. Which disease does John Dowell suffer from?

3. During the stay at Nauheim, who is the only person to be unaware of the affair that takes place?

4. Who tells John Dowell that his wife and Captain Edward Ashburnham have been having an affair?

5. Which of the following characters meet up with the Dowells in France during their honeymoon:

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does John Dowell laugh at Leonora Ashburnham when she says she can learn to "accept the situation" between Florence Dowell and Captain Edward Ashburnham?

2. Describe Leonora Ashburnham's physical altercation with Maisie Maidan and its significance.

3. Why does John Dowell enjoy the train ride to the castle?

4. According to John Dowell's point of view, what qualities define American culture?

5. In Part 1, Chapter 3, John Dowell recalls one particular dress his wife Florence wore during their stay at Nauheim. Describe the dress and its significance.

6. How do the personalities of Florence Dowell and Leonora Ashburnham differ?

7. In what way does John Dowell feel like an outsider?

8. According to John Dowell's point of view, what qualities define English culture?

9. How does Maisie Maidan die?

10. Have the Ashburnhams ever had physical or emotional affection for one another?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the significance of John Dowell's unreliability as a narrator. To what extent can the reader accept John's vision of the world as the truth? Is John's unreliability as a narrator a tantalizing source of conflict within the novel or merely an aesthetic fumble on the part of the author? How would the reader's experience change if the novel were told from a third person, omniscient point of view? Does the use of an unreliable narrator at all relate to the novel's themes?

Essay Topic 2

The Good Soldier makes explicit comparisons between the awkwardness and unruliness of American life and the stately and opulent life of an English estate. Ford juxtaposes American culture and English culture not only by throwing the American Dowells and the English Ashburnhams together, but also by describing the generous and industrious eccentricities of Florence's Uncle John. Explain the role nationalism plays in The Good Soldier. In the essay consider the following:

1. Do the characters' nationalities cause conflict in the novel? If so, how?

2. Considering that Ford is English, does he show any biases? Does Ford accurately render American sensibilities or does he stereotype them?

Essay Topic 3

What is the significance of the novel's title, The Good Soldier?

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