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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 bumps Stephen into a square ditch of slimy, cold water?

2. What is the name of the school Stephen next enrolls in?

3. What happens when summer vacation is over for Stephen?

4. After the punishment, what are Flemming and Stephen told to do?

5. After Blackrock, where does the family move?

Short Essay Questions

1. Explain how the sermons during the retreat affect Stephen.

2. Explain something of the longing that Stephen feels even from an early age.

3. What are some of the specifics Stephen is troubled by from his past life?

4. Detail the paradox of Stephen's past and present in regard to the church.

5. What is the reaction of the students after Stephen goes to see the rector?

6. Identify the disconnect between Stephen and his father.

7. Draw a picture of how Stephen keeps returning to the brothel quarter.

8. What is Stephen's impression of Clongowes Wood College?

9. Tell about the punishment Father Dolan gives Fleming in the classroom.

10. What was in the verses Stephen wrote about the girl on the tram?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay on obsessions. At age sixteen, Stephen's obsession was sex. However, people become obsessed by many other thing--making money, playing video games, drinking and partying, just to name a few. In your essay discuss how people get caught up in certain obsessions and how they tend to put themselves in situations where they can satisfy those desires.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay entitled, Imagery in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. In your essay, select one or two passages with some of Joyce's literary imagery and explain why these in particular appealed to you. Discuss how imagery in literature paints a mental picture for the reader.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay on the value of imagination. It was Stephen's imagination in his early years, coupled with his love of language, that ultimately set his path toward becoming a writer. Discuss how youthful imagination leads others toward different goals.

(see the answer keys)

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