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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. Why does Geoffrey say that we cannot know everything about the past?

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

3. After Flaubert published "Madame Bovary," what did Gertrude Collier Tenant publish?

4. What did Geoffrey do to ascertain the color of Madame Bovary's eyes?

5. What mistake did the professor from Cambridge point out in a Tennyson work?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Geoffrey say is the difference between internal mistakes in writing literature and external ones?

2. Flaubert compares himself to many things. Name some of them.

3. What was included in the dictionary Flaubert wrote?

4. Why does Geoffrey say he hates critics?

5. What does Geoffrey think about omniscient authors of novels?

6. Why does Geoffrey think Flaubert might also be compared to a camel?

7. What factual information does Geoffrey tell the reader about himself?

8. Why is Geoffrey so anxious to meet with Ed a second time?

9. Whose deaths greatly affected Flaubert's life?

10. Explain why Flaubert refers to himself as a bear, and particularly as a white one.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the idea of the train as a symbol in "Flaubert's Parrot." Include details about Flaubert's attitude toward trains and his use of the train, and explain how trains function symbolically.

Essay Topic 2

Geoffrey dislikes critics; he points out the absurdity of the critic who found discrepancies in Flaubert's references to the color of Madame Bovary's eyes. He says that those kinds of discrepancies are internal problems, unlike external problems that are caused by a lack of research (giving the wrong date for a war in a novel, for example). Either defend Geoffrey's viewpoint or make an argument against it.

Essay Topic 3

Minor characters contribute color to "Flaubert's Parrot." Choose any three from the following list of characters and describe what relationship each had with Flaubert and how their inclusion benefits the book as a whole: Maxime Du Camp, Elisa Schlesinger, Gertrude Collier, Kuchuk Hanem, Lucien Andrieu, Enid Starkie.

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