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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. How much money does Jacques give Candide?

2. What does Candide sell on the old woman's advice?

3. Who does the old lady pray to for Candide's health?

4. What characteristic do Jacques and Candide share?

5. What does Candide tell the Commandant?

Short Essay Questions

1. What was Pangloss' story of his enslavement?

2. Who found the exhausted princess from the old woman's story and offered to help her escape to Spain?

3. Why are Candide and Cunégonde not happy even after they marry?

4. Where do Candide and Cacambo see gold and jewels in the city in the mountains? How do they respond to this finding?

5. Compare the burials of Don Issachar and the Grand Inquisitor.

6. Explain how Candide becomes a member of the Bulgarian army.

7. Why does the Levantine captain ask such a high ransom for Pangloss and the Baron?

8. What happens when Cunégonde, Candide, and the old woman stop at the inn and how do they respond?

9. What do Candide and Pangloss experience when they get to Lisbon, and how do they respond?

10. What is Candide's advantage over Martin?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The responsibility of free will is a recurring theme in the novel. Using examples from the text, explain the arguments that characters have over the nature of free will. Do the characters seem to make decisions on their own or due to forces outside of their control?

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay on the value of human life. Refer to Martin's notion of people being the same as hawks that eat pigeons. Discuss the genocide in the world today in comparison to Martin's illustration. Also include how the value of a human life is perceived differently in different cultures.

Essay Topic 3

In the second chapter, Candide is drafted into the Bulgarian military after he drinks to the King of Bulgaria with two men he meets during his travels. How does Candide react to his initiation into the army? Do you think being in the military has a positive or negative affect on Candide's character in the rest of the novel? Why? How do you think Candide is affected by his short military character?

(see the answer keys)

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