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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. Forster says novelists find death to be ____________.

2. What is the highest common factor to all novels?

3. Which characters in The Antiquary does Forster say Scott introduced artlessly?

4. Fictional characters come into the world more like what than human beings?

5. Whose method with character does Forster believe has been misunderstood?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Forster look at in terms of characters in the second section on People?

2. What does Forster consider to be the strangest of the five basic elements of life?

3. What is the difference between an Austen character and a Dickens character?

4. According to Forster, what does a good novel do?

5. Why are flat characters sometimes referred to as humorous characters?

6. What does Forster mean by a "sense of space" in War and Peace?

7. What does Forster say is the difference between a novel and a memoir?

8. What image does Forster ask his audience to think of so as not to consider literature in the "stream of time"?

9. As defined by Forster, when is a character in a novel real?

10. What is Forster's definition of a pseudo-scholar?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does Forster's point about how varied points of view reflect life parallel his points about characters made in the first People section?

Essay Topic 2

Using references from literature, describe how all seven aspects present in a novel can lead to a transcendent experience for the reader. Which aspect offers the best vehicle to transcendence? Do you agree with Forster that transcendence is the mark of a truly exceptional novel?

Essay Topic 3

What does Forster think about the motto "History develops, Art stands still"? How does he come back to that in the conclusion of his lecture series?

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