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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. Who does Cressida hope Carrie meets?

2. Where does Cressida ask Carrie if she has visited lately?

3. How might one characterize Poppas?

4. When Carrie last saw Cressida, to whom was Cressida married?

5. At what do Cressida's sisters marvel?

Short Essay Questions

1. When Carrie is watching the four men who are at the reading of the survivor's names from the Titanic, she muses to herself wondering if Cressida would actually return to those men sitting there is she could. Do you think Cressida would return to these men if she could?

2. What is Poppas's physical ailment and what does he plan to eventually do to improve his health?

3. Describe Cressida's traveling companions.

4. Describe how the conversation between Cressida and Carrie lapses into a bit of melancholy.

5. When Carrie mentions Cressida's engagement, what is Cressida's response?

6. Give a brief synopsis of what the reader knows about Cressida's marriages by the end of part one.

7. How does Carrie evaluate Jerome's effect on Cressida? Carrie uses the word "rapacious" to describe his actions, what does this word mean in the context of Jerome Brown as a financier?

8. What makes Carrie speculate about the loyalties of Cressida's traveling companions?

9. What is Cressida's estimation of the violin player?

10. How does Carrie describe Cressida's older brother and what do you think is the tone of that description?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Cressida is described by various adjectives throughout the story, as well as through her actions. Answer the following questions in a well-developed essay using detailed examples from the book and from your own life experience:

1. Name three of Cressida's most outstanding characteristics and give an example of it in the story.

2. Is Cressida presented as a well-rounded character? Why or why not? Give examples to support your stance.

3. Would those characteristics thought to be admirable of Cressida in her era still be considered admirable today? Name the characteristics you consider and explain your stance.

Essay Topic 2

The narrator, Carrie, is also one of the executors of Cressida's will. She describes a series of letters which Cressida's family produces to argue that Poppas should not receive his 50,000 dollar bequest. Answer the following questions in a well-developed essay using detailed examples from the book and from your own life experience:

1. Describe the content of each letter mentioned.

2. If you were Carrie, what would you think of these letters?

3. Would you feel the letters justifies not awarding the bequest to Poppas?

4. Would you want others to see letters such as these that were about you and your relationship to a generous relative?

Essay Topic 3

An entire section of this story is devoted to an in-depth accounting of Cressida's relationship with Bouchalka, the Bohemian. Answer the following questions in a well-developed essay using detailed examples from the book and from your own life experience:

1. Briefly describe how Cressida meets Bouchalka and the development of their romance.

2. Does Bouchalka seem totally devoted to composing when he is first described? Why or why not?

3. Why do you think Bouchalka lost his motivation to compose once he was no longer "hungry"?

4. Do you think Bouchalka would have continued his career as an excellent composer if he had not become a "kept" man?

(see the answer keys)

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