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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is the name of the young man in the first sentence of The Antiquary?
(a) Edie.
(b) Laurence.
(c) Lovel.
(d) Jonathon.

2. Which character from the novel Evan Harrington is a good example of a memorable flat character?
(a) The Countess.
(b) Becky Sharp.
(c) Jane Elliot.
(d) The Count of Denmark.

3. Who is the first hypothetical person to whom Forster poses the question, "What does a novel do?"
(a) A zookeeper.
(b) A golfer.
(c) A writer.
(d) A bus driver.

4. Forster starts his discussion of round characters with the novel ____________.
(a) Mansfield Park.
(b) Wuthering Heights.
(c) Emma.
(d) War and Peace.

5. Forster surmises that the character Moll was born out the author's experience in _____________.
(a) War.
(b) Politics.
(c) College.
(d) Prison.

6. In Forster's opinion, what is the key failing of English fiction?
(a) Characters.
(b) Plot.
(c) Provincialism.
(d) Value.

7. Whose method with character does Forster believe has been misunderstood?
(a) Lawrence.
(b) Melville.
(c) Austen.
(d) Dickens.

8. Who does Forster say is the real hero of The Old Wives' Tale?
(a) Character.
(b) Value.
(c) Plot.
(d) Time.

9. What does Forster call characters like Miss Grizzle in The Antiquary?
(a) Annoying bits.
(b) Clever ploys.
(c) Pointless blobs.
(d) Ragged ends.

10. Novelists unintentionally make their characters overly sensitive to what?
(a) Death.
(b) Birth.
(c) Food.
(d) Love.

11. What is the only literary tool to have an effect on tyrants and savages?
(a) Editing.
(b) Drama.
(c) Theme.
(d) Suspense.

12. William George Clark is best known for being what?
(a) Minister.
(b) Humorist.
(c) Novelist.
(d) Shakespearean Scholar.

13. Forster says characters are full of the spirit of what?
(a) Love.
(b) Malice.
(c) Amusement.
(d) Mutiny.

14. Through characters, novels give the reader the illusion of _________________.
(a) Perspicacity.
(b) Perspective.
(c) Predictability.
(d) Peace.

15. Forster discusses the death of the character Mrs.Proudie in a novel by whom?
(a) Austen.
(b) Dickens.
(c) Tolstoy.
(d) Trollope.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Forster say it is impossible to study about literature?

2. What does Forster use as an example of something all humans have that rarely gets mentioned in novels?

3. What is the occupation of the husband Moll loves deeply in the novel?

4. Forster says that permanency is one of the illusions attached to what?

5. Works that deal with real people are called what?

(see the answer keys)

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