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

Short Answer Questions

1. Mr. Jarndyce turns Esther over to Woodcourt and again becomes ___________.

2. George is thought to have ___________.

3. Ada gives birth to a baby boy, while Esther has ___________.

4. Life at Chesney Wold has become ___________.

5. Esther's illness has resulted in ___________.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Jarndyce v. Jarndyce comes to an end, just as Esther's adult life begins to take form. In its wake, the lawsuit has swept away many people, and the plot of the story has been cleaned up and tied up. What is Dickens trying to say, with Esther now being a happy woman, the misunderstandings smoothed out, Miss Flite's birds being free, and other semi-happy endings offered in Bleak House?

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay about the use of flowers in Bleak House. Dickens employs flowers several times in very specific, symbolic ways. Examine the symbolism and determine if there is a common thread in the instances where flowers appear.

Essay Topic 3

The gap between the rich and poor seems extremely wide in Bleak House. Write an essay, using the story and its characters, that compares and contrasts the poorest with the wealthiest. Also, try to determine where Dickens' sympathy lay when he wrote Bleak House.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 250 words (approx. 1 page at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample