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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In what way is Felicite completely different from Flaubert?
(a) She is inarticulate.
(b) She is lonely.
(c) She takes lovers.
(d) She writes in a diary.

2. Why does Geoffrey say that we cannot know everything about the past?
(a) Because much of history has never been written down.
(b) Because it would confuse us.
(c) Because historians have conflicting ideas about the past.
(d) Because it would be impossible to take in everything.

3. What happened after the dragoman lost his Scottish terrier?
(a) The dragoman asked Flaubert if he could have Flaubert's dog.
(b) The dragoman barked like a dog and the terrier answered back.
(c) The dragoman looked for the dog for the rest of his life.
(d) Flaubert bought the dragoman another Scottish terrier.

4. How is Rouen different from the first time Geoffrey visited the city?
(a) It had been bombed then.
(b) It has been industrialized.
(c) It has three times the population.
(d) Its parks have been paved over.

5. What is Geoffrey's attitude when making his final explanation about why he hates critics?
(a) He is filled with rage.
(b) He is determined to be understanding.
(c) He says he would abolish critics if he had the power to do so.
(d) He forgives those critics who have misjudged his work.

6. Flaubert refers to himself as a bear and his sister as what animal?
(a) The rat.
(b) The lion.
(c) The alligator.
(d) The rabbit.

7. Geoffrey thinks that if Flaubert had not been a bear he might have been what other animal?
(a) A whale.
(b) A camel.
(c) An elephant.
(d) A tiger.

8. What does Geoffrey do on his last day in Rouen?
(a) He outlines his new book.
(b) He eats at a snack bar called Le Flaubert.
(c) He photographs the statues.
(d) He drives to Croisset.

9. Who actually carried out the trick that resulted in Flaubert's find at the top of the Great Pyramid?
(a) Nabakov.
(b) Du Camp.
(c) Flaubert.
(d) The translator.

10. Geoffrey compares biographies to what objects?
(a) Photographs.
(b) Nets.
(c) Trains.
(d) Desks.

11. What is Geoffrey's marital status?
(a) Divorced.
(b) Widowed.
(c) Married.
(d) Single.

12. What does Geoffrey ask Ed about the content of the letters?
(a) He asks if the letters proved Flaubert and Julie Herbert had an affair.
(b) He asked if Julie wrote about her children.
(c) He asked if Flaubert used the letters as the basis for any of his stories.
(d) He asks if Flaubert discussed death in his letters.

13. According to Du Camp, on whom was Madame Bovary modeled?
(a) The second wife of a medical officer.
(b) Flaubert's cousin.
(c) The village seamstress of Rouen.
(d) Flaubert's first mistress.

14. How does Flaubert feel about the organization of his ideas?
(a) He is haphazard about organization about half the time.
(b) He wants others to organize his ideas for him.
(c) He puts everything into neat little categories.
(d) He purposely lets ideas fall where they will.

15. What mistake in "The Lord of the Flies" does the professor from Cambridge talk about?
(a) Piggy's glasses are for shortsightedness and could not have lit the fire.
(b) No one thought of fishing, yet the boys ate fish.
(c) Ralph dreams of a place he has never been and calls it home.
(d) The boys come to the island on an obsolete aircraft.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Geoffrey say we need to respect about Flaubert even if we think him naive or unsuccessful?

2. What word does Geoffrey say that people are no longer allowed to use for describing lunacy?

3. How does the inscription explain the presence of the stuffed green parrot?

4. What was Geoffrey's reaction to Ed's disposal of the letters?

5. The third list in the chronology consists of what?

(see the answer keys)

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