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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. With what motif is William's old room decorated?

2. Who calls Rosie a nymphomaniac?

3. What does Isabel say Rosie looks like in the painting of her?

4. What does Rosie encourage William to do?

5. How does Rosie act about her and Ted leaving debts in Blackstable?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe Rosie's home and Rose herself.

2. 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?

3. Describe the Driffields's neighborhood and home.

4. Describe Isabel Trafford.

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

6. Why does Ted buy the house he buys and what does Amy do despite Ted fighting her about it?

7. Describe the scene where William is talking to Hillier about painting Rosie.

8. Describe Amy Driffield.

9. Describe how William encounters Rosie in New York?

10. How does William re-connect with the Driffields?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the following:

1. What do you think are the characteristics of a successful novel?

2. Analyze and discuss Cakes and Ale based upon the criteria you decide upon in #1 and judge if Cakes and Ale is a successful novel.

3. Do you think the fact that Cakes and Ale may be based upon a real-life experience of the author changes the criteria upon which its success should be judged? Explain.

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

William Ashenden is the narrator of the novel, which Maugham chooses to write the novel from the first-person point of view. Discuss the following:

1. What are the advantages and disadvantages of this novel being written in the first person?

2. Do you think the novel would be more effective in a different point of view? Which one if so? Why not if you think the first person works the best?

3. If the narrator is actually the author, much of what is written are real events witnessed by the author. Then does the first person make sense from that perspective? What if the book was truly fiction with no ties to "real" people, does the first-person point of view still seem like the best choice? Why or why not.

(see the answer keys)

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