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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 sort of school does William Gull go to as a young man?

2. What does Netley give Polly as a gift?

3. What does Abberline note would have been the result if he and Lees had not gone along with the conspiracy in the Prologue?

4. Who does Thick arrest, believing him to be Leather Apron?

5. In Chapter 3, how is Mary Kelly earning a living?

Short Essay Questions

1. What marks the conception of Adolf Hitler?

2. What is significant about the discussion on Martha Tabram?

3. What do Abberline and Lees discuss in the Prologue?

4. Describe William Gull's childhood and years in school.

5. What comprises the fourth dimension?

6. What leads Mary Kelly and the three prostitutes to blackmail Sickert?

7. How is Polly snared by Gull and Netley?

8. What revelations does Mary Kelly make to Sickert in Chapter 3?

9. In what condition is Annie during Chapter 7?

10. Why does Whitechapel become gripped with hysteria at the end of Chapter 7?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

"It is beginning, Netley. Only just beginning. For better or worse, the twentieth century. I have delivered it," Gull intones after one the murders. Analyze this statement in the following format:

Part 1) Theories of the fourth dimension.

Part 2) Gull's final journey on the fourth dimension.

Part 3) Gull's ideology.

Part 4) The contrast of Annie's daughter with Gull's beliefs.

Part 5) The significance of Abberline and Lees mentioning the coming of a world war in the Prologue and Epilogue.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the male and female dynamics of Gull's murders in the following format:

Part 1) The grapes.

Part 2) The knife as a phallic symbol.

Part 3) The mutilation of the women's sexual organs.

Part 4) Gull's affection for the women's dead bodies, during and post-mutilation.

Part 5) Gull's belief that the murders will strengthen men's power over society.

Essay Topic 3

For what purpose is Joseph Merrick, the "Elephant Man," featured in this novel? Why does Gull continually greet him by the name "Ganesh"? Why does Gull force Polly to observe Merrick and repeat Gull's salutation? What is significant about the teapot Gull uses to burn Mary Kelly's heart? Why does Gull hold Merrick in such high esteem, and how does this contrast with the real-life Merrick's personality?

(see the answer keys)

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