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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. In Chapter 5, whose conception is witnessed?

2. Why does Sickert object to Albert's marriage to Annie?

3. In what year is the Prologue set?

4. What is the occupation of Walter Sickert?

5. Where does Chapter 6 begin?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens when Gull has a stroke in Chapter 2?

2. What comprises the first encounter between Abberline and Mary Kelly?

3. What is Gull's belief in societal power?

4. Why does Gull bring Annie Crook into his asylum, and how is she treated?

5. What assumptions are made about Polly's dead body, and what discoveries happen at the morgue?

6. Why does Gull believe that killing the prostitutes is only the beginning for him?

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

8. What is Sickert's relationship with Mary Kelly?

9. What comprises Gull's meeting to Sir Charles Warren?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Why does Gull frequently go into fugues during the murders? What visions does he experience in these times? How does the author blend fact with fiction during the murder of Annie? How does Gull's vision in the alleyway differ from the series of visions he suffers during the mutilation of Mary Kelly? What hints are given throughout the novel that Gull is merely hallucinating at these points? Conversely, what hints point to Gull truly experiencing what he sees in his visions? How do these fugues differ from the theories of the fourth dimension?

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

What role does the written word play in "From Hell"? How do the tactics of yellow journalism increase newspaper sales while inciting a frenzy in Whitechapel? How does the fear of the public give the Masons at Scotland Yard the idea to frame the innocent Druitt for the murders? How do the false letters from Jack the Ripper sensationalize the murders? For what reasons does Gull send in his own letter? How does Gull make sure it is known that his own letter is authentic? Why is Gull's letter particularly important to the themes of this novel (title notwithstanding)?

(see the answer keys)

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