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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. Why does Rosie rarely attend luncheons and teas?

2. What is the reaction to the book he publishes?

3. Why does Amy think it good that Rosie leaves Ted?

4. To William, how does Rosie always remain?

5. Why is William bitter?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the motel in which William takes a room when he comes to share memories about Ted with Roy and Amy .

2. When William visits her in Yonkers, what does Rosie reveal about her marriage to Ted and a child they had?

3. What is Rosie's response to William's sulkiness about Kuyper and other men?

4. What is said about Rosie as William, Amy and Roy look at photographs?

5. Describe Roy's relationship with the Traffords.

6. Briefly describe how William and Rosie's relationship continues.

7. What novel does Ted publish which is a ruthlessly unsentimental tale dealing with a child's death, and what is the public's response to the novel?

8. What are a couple things William discovers about Rosie?

9. Describe the situation that keeps Rosie occupied for a couple weeks and which infuriates William.

10. How does Ted meet and marry his second wife and what is Isabel Trafford's reaction?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

There are a number of interesting questions raised by this book. Questions that most likely Maugham wanted the readers to consider and think through carefully. Discuss the following:

1. What does the term "author agenda" mean?

2. Name one idea/concept you think may have been a part of the author's agenda. Analyze that idea throughout the book and discuss Maugham's probable agenda concerning that idea.

2. Do you think writers who have an agenda for writing should point it out in a preface?

3. How often do you think fiction is written with a clear agenda in mind by the author?

Essay Topic 2

In Chapter 10, over dinner, the Vicar announces that the Driffields have bolted to London, abandoning their debts. Discuss the following:

1. How do Mary-Ann and Rosie's view of abandoning their debt coincide? Do you agree with their point of view? See chapter 13 for Rosie's point of view about the debt.

2. What do you think it says about the Driffields that they flee debts accrued? Do you think the fact that the debts are in a small town by small merchants changes the morality of it? Why or why not?

3. By the time Ted has been married to Amy for a while, William notes that Amy has reformed him from being a Bohemian. What is a Bohemian? Are Bohemians less reputable than a "normal" person? Would a Bohemian be more likely to abandon his/her debt? Explain your answers.

Essay Topic 3

Though Somerset Maugham denies it, many literary critics and readers think there is a clear resemblance of Ted Driffield to the real-life Thomas Hardy and Roy Kear to Hugh Walpole. Some even say that the narrator, William Ashenden represents Somerset Maugham. Discuss the following:

1. Research the French phrase roman à clef or roman à clé and discuss how that term is applicable to Cakes and Ale.

2. Research the author Thomas Hardy and compare his life to that of Ted Driffield. How are the similar? How are they different? Are the similarities enough to warrant the belief that Roy Kear represents Walpole?

Does Hardy seem to have a Rosie, Amy, or Isabel in his life? What details about Hardy's life that you uncover seem to be the same as what is written about Driffield?

3. Research the author Hugh Walpole and compare his life to that of Roy Kear. How are the similar? How are they different? In what ways to their personalities seem similar? Are the similarities enough to warrant the belief that Roy Kear represents Walpole?

4. Research the author Somerset Maugham and compare his life to that of William Ashenden. How are they similar? How are they different? In what ways to their personalities seem similar? Are the similarities enough to warrant the belief that William Ashenden represents Maugham?

(see the answer keys)

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