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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 does Jock tell Tony?

2. Who arrives first at the meeting point for Tony and Milly?

3. About what does Mr. Todd become evasive?

4. What strikes terror into Rosa's people?

5. What is wrong with Tony?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens after Brenda has written Tony and telling him about John Beaver?

2. How has John Beaver fared through the saga of Tony and Brenda's failed marriage?

3. How does Tony manage to survive in the jungle?

4. Why does Tony have to appear to be in the wrong?

5. What is rather ironic about how divorce is treated in this era?

6. How does Brenda use the death of her son to justify her request for a divorce?

7. How does Reggie present the situation about Brenda to Tony?

8. How long is it before Tony and Messinger are able to talk to the men of the village about what they want?

9. What is Tony's position in Brenda's social circle by the end of this chapter?

10. What seems to be contrasted in this chapter?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

There are a number of themes in this story, one of which has already been discussed. Discuss one of the following:

1. Choose two major themes (other than that of class) and analyze them and discuss examples of where that theme appears in the text.

2. Compare and contrast two major themes in the novel to those themes found in other texts/movies with which you are familiar.

3. Other than class, which theme do you think is the major theme of the book? Discuss why and give example

Essay Topic 2

There is a lot of foreshadowing throughout this story. Discuss the following:

1. How is Brenda's affair with John Beaver foreshadowed? Give examples.

2. How is John Andrew's death foreshadowed? Give examples.

3. Do you think Tony becoming lost in the jungle "forever" is foreshadowed? Why or why not? Give examples.

4. Do you think the author's use of foreshadowing is effective? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 3

A HANDFUL OF DUST takes its title from a T.S. Eliot poem titled "The Wasteland." Choose one of the following to discuss:

1. Discuss the similar themes that are jointly present in "The Wasteland" and A Handful of Dust.

2. Compare and contrast the use of a poem versus a novel to express similar ideas.

3. Discuss why both Eliot and Waugh, who wrote in the same era, would be interested in the same social themes.

(see the answer keys)

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