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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. What does Roxane say she followed to find Arras?

2. What reason does the Comte de Guiche give for leaving at the end of Scene 5?

3. Which of the following is not a term that Roxane uses to describe Christian's prose in her speech in Scene 8?

4. Who is walking with Roxane in Scene 1?

5. What does Le Bret announce must be done immediately upon hearing of Cyrano's injury?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Christian realize that Cyrano loves Roxane in Scene 4?

2. Why are the troops starving at the beginning of Act 4?

3. Describe Cyrano in Scene 5.

4. What does Roxane incorrectly assume when she see's Ragueneau and Le Bret exit in Scene 3?

5. How does Roxane bring food to the troops?

6. How does Cyrano distract the Comte de Guiche while Roxane and Christian marry?

7. How has Roxane's love changed in the months since the siege?

8. What offer does Christian make to Cyrano in Scene 9?

9. What does Roxane say about her surroundings at the beginning of Scene 4?

10. Describe the imaginary enemies Cyrano fights at the end of the play?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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

Essay Topic 2

The idea of honor in CYRANO DE BERGERAC becomes synonymous with the idea of soldiery. Focusing on Le Bret, Carbon, and the cadets of Act 4, write an essay on the the lionization of the career soldier. How do these characters deal with adverse circumstances? What do they idolize and what do they revile? How do they react to the extremities of Cyrano?

Essay Topic 3

Cyrano de Bergerac is an individualist of the highest order. His sense of honor is self-contained, and he is unwilling to equivocate to appease a crowd. Write an essay about his willingness to make enemies in pursuit of honor:

Part 1) How does Cyrano place himself in conflict with virtually the entire city in the first act of the play? Why does he do this, and what does this say about him?

Part 2) Why does Cyrano turn down de Guiche's offer of patronage for his verses? What is the crux of his argument after the Comte storms out?

Part 3) Describe Cyrano's station in life at the end of the play? How is he regarded by both his friends and Paris as a whole? What is Rostand saying about the play of the good man in society?

(see the answer keys)

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