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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 does Jack offer to present to Lady Bracknell in lieu of his parentage?

2. Why does Jack neglect to tell Gwendolen about the existence of Cecily?

3. Which of these is not a description of the handbag in which Jack was found?

4. What does Jack plan to do in the near future?

5. What service does Lady Bracknell require of Algernon on Saturday?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Lady Bracknell's opinion of Bunbury?

2. How did Cecily become Jack's ward?

3. Why does Jack intend to "kill" Ernest?

4. Describe Algernon Moncrieff.

5. What orders does Algernon give Lane at the end of the First Act?

6. Describe Algernon and Jack's conversation concerning Cecily and Gwendolen.

7. What is Jack Worthing's business in London?

8. How is it that Jack does not know who his parents are?

9. Why are there no cucumber sandwiches at the Algernon's when Lady Bracknell arrives?

10. How does Jack Worthing's cigarette case betray his identity to Algernon?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Is Chasuble a religious hypocrite or merely a bumbling blowhard? Make a case for one or the other in essay form, citing statement made and actions taken be Chasuble to corroborate your position.

Essay Topic 2

Miss Prism is one of the more complex characters in The Importance of Being Earnest. Write an essay covering the following topics surrounding her character:

Part 1) When we first meet Miss Prism in Act II, what do we think is her passion in life? Does she have one? What are her attitudes - stated or implied - or art and marriage?

Part 2) At what point do we realize that Miss Prism has feelings for Chasuble? What hope does she have of taking him as a husband?

Part 3) How do the revelations about Miss Prism's past affect our understanding of her character? Is she, in the end, a more or less sympathetic character?

Essay Topic 3

Choose one of the following options to write about:

1.) What type of freedom does Ernest allow Jack? Can he do certain things because of Ernest that he could not without him? What unexpected challenges arise because of the freedom Ernest allows?

2.) Write about debt as a driving force in the play? Which characters - both real and fictional - have accumulated debt and how doe they justify it. Cite specific examples in the text.

3.) To what extent are Lane, Miss Prism, and Chasuble all constrained by unseen forces to act in a certain way? Do any of them overcome these forces?

(see the answer keys)

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