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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. In Scene 2, Ragueneau wraps an order of patties in a sonnet to whom?

2. To what literary work does the Comte de Guiche refer Cyrano before leaving the shop?

3. At the beginning of Scene 8, what supposed vice does Cyrano defend to Le Bret?

4. Who does Cyrano strike at the end of Act 2?

5. Upon what subject does Roxane expect Christian to speak this night?

Short Essay Questions

1. With what has Ragueneau been preoccupied in Act 2?

2. Describe the scene at the beginning of the play.

3. What furtive disagreement do Christian and Cyrano has at the end of Scene 7?

4. What news does Roxane tell Cyrano in Scene 6?

5. How does Roxane prevent Christian's going to battle in Scene 2?

6. How does Cyrano react to the loutish Citizen's attack on his nose?

7. What is the Comte de Guiche's treachery against Ligniere?

8. How does Roxane trick the monk in Scene 11?

9. How is Christian resistant to Cyrano in Scene 4?

10. What plan do Cyrano and Christian hatch by the end of Scene 10?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Love is an ambiguous force in Cyrano de Bergerac. It guides many character's actions, both for good and for ill. Write an essay about Rostand's ambiguous attitude toward love:

Part 1) Christian loves Roxane completely, which blind him to the reality of his relationship with her. How does he pay for this love, and who else pay for it in the long run?

Part 2) To what extent do both Montfleury and Valvert pay for their romantic desires? What do they have in common and what do they respectively lose?

Part 3) The Comte de Guiche is consumed by his love for Roxane. Analyze how this all-engrossing love is the catalyst for both his most eveil acts and his finest.

Essay Topic 2

Roxane develops from a mere object of affection into a fully-dimensional strong-willed character. Chart this transition in an essay. How does Roxane appear in the first act of the play? Is her role active, or merely objective to male characters? By scene 4, how has she transformed herself? What bold actions does she undertake without assistance from others?

Essay Topic 3

Cyrano de Bergerac is a friend to the common man and a fierce enemy to hypocrisy and pompousness. Write an essay about his various successes in humbling the soft upper crust of Paris. What does he dislike about each of these adversaries? How does he humble them, and what are the consequences?

Part 1) Montfleury

Part 2) Valvert

Part 3) The Comte de Guiche in Act 4

(see the answer keys)

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