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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. Who arrives after Hannah exits?

2. What is Hannah's gift to Bernard?

3. Thomasina is supposed to be studying

4. What sound recurs in this scene?

5. Why is Hannah skeptical of Bernard's conclusion regarding Byron's duel with Chater?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is Hannah writing about the garden at Sidley Park?

2. What images has Thomasina captured in her drawing?

3. What are Lady Croom's major concerns for her daughter?

4. Why have the Chaters and Captain Brice gone off together?

5. What events or ideas contribute to the humorous tone of the first scene?

6. Explain Chloe's theory that sex thwarts the deterministic universe.

7. Why does Thomasina get angry when Septimus translates from Latin?

8. What details of the duel does Septimus agree to?

9. What is Bernard's objection to Valentine's assertion that knowledge is all that matters?

10. What has Chloe's mother done to help Bernard?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What do Stoppard's characters have to say about love and sex in his play? Using any one character's dialogue as support, write an essay in which you identify Stoppard's messages about love and sex.

Essay Topic 2

Compare and contrast Hannah and Bernard's attitudes towards academic research as they develop throughout the play. You may consider the extent of knowledge, interaction with historical documents, value of historical research, etc. that Hannah and Bernard represent in Stoppard's concept of academia.

Essay Topic 3

Stoppard's play explores classical and romantic understanding in several situations. Write an essay in which you determine whether Stoppard seems to favor one of these schools of thought over the other. Use examples from the text to support your ideas.

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This section contains 624 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample