View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is Rosa preparing as a wedding gift for Judith?

2. What photograph does Charles Bon have on his person when he dies?

3. To whom does the recipient of the letter presented in Chapter 4 give the letter to decades ago?

4. What is Thomas Sutpen's rank in the army?

5. What is Mr. Coldfiled's association with Sutpen after the marriage?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Chapter 6 imply about the reason why Judith took Charles Etienne Saint-Valery Bon in after he was orphaned?

2. What reasons does Jason Compson give for Rosa hating her father?

3. What reason did Sutpen give for not joining the Klan?

4. What does Jason Compson identify as Henry's objection to Bon marrying Judith?

5. Why is it significant that it rains on Sutpen's wedding night?

6. Why does Rosa stop accepting visits from Judith and Ellen?

7. What is Quentin distracted by at the end of Chapter 5 that causes him to stop paying attention to the story?

8. The story of Sutpen's youth as a poor white on a plantation describes considerable hostility from poor whites directed at black slaves. What was the cause of this hostility?

9. Why do the townspeople show up at the wedding to throw dirt and vegetables? Is it something more than the fact that they don't like Sutpen?

10. Why does Jason Compson, who is telling much of the story presented in Chapter 2, know so much about Sutpen?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe the different narrative techniques used in the novel and what their effects are on reader interpretation. How much of the novel is factual and how much is speculation?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss how Thomas Sutpen could be interpreted as a sympathetic character. Who in the novel views Supten sympathetically? Be sure to use specific examples from the text.

Essay Topic 3

Pick one female character in the novel and describe her role in the text, how she is characterized, and what that role and characterization reveal about the novel's attitude toward women.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 887 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample