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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 Rutledge think of the murder victim?

2. Who, as described in Chapter 5, died in the Boer War?

3. What is the point of view of this novel?

4. Where did the murder that will be investigated in this novel take place?

5. Why does Rutledge become angry in Chapter 7 while talking with Lettice Wood?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Wilton deny doing the morning of the murder that goes directly against eye witness testimony?

2. What is ironic about the death of Hamish McLeod as described in Chapter 9?

3. What does Mavers lecture about in public that expresses his unhappiness with the aristocracy in England and particularly Colonel Harris?

4. Who do the servants at Harris' estate tell Rutledge were fighting the night before Harris' murder?

5. Who is Helena Sommers? What is unusual about her living arrangements?

6. What does Rutledge learn about Catherine Tarrant that might provide motive for her to kill Harris?

7. Why does Royston tell Rutledge he once borrowed money from Colonel Harris?

8. What does Rutledge find unusual about Lettice Wood's manner in Chapter 2?

9. Who does Rutledge learn that Catherine Tarrant blamed for the death of her German lover?

10. Who is Bowles? Why does he dislike Rutledge?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is split personality? What causes it? Who in this novel suffers split personality? How did it come about? What trauma brought it on? What are the personalities in this fractured person's mind? How does this character deal with this? Why does this character take an ax to Royston? Why does this character kill him/herself? What confession does this character make before dying?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the relationships between each of the following characters in detail, citing examples from the novel to support your conclusions:

1) Lettice Wood and Mark Wilton

2) Lettice Wood and Charles Harris

3) Mark Wilton and Charles Harris.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss each of the following in detail, citing examples from the novel to support your conclusions:

1) Setting

2) Point of view

3) Metaphor and symbolism

4) Structure.

(see the answer keys)

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