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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. Where does Lady Bracknell send Gwendolyn while she questions Jack?

2. Why does Mr. Thomas Cardew give baby Jack the surname Worthing?

3. What is the only thing that allows Algernon to put up with his relatives?

4. How old is Cecily?

5. In what town does the First Act take place?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Who is Bunbury?

3. What, according to Jack and Algernon, is the difference between mothers and fathers in modern society?

4. What is Lady Bracknell's response to the story of Jack's adoption?

5. Why does Algernon discreetly write down Jack's country address on his cuff?

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

7. What is Algernon's stated opinion of love and marriage in Act I?

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

9. How did Cecily become Jack's ward?

10. Name a few of Lady Bracknell's requirements for a suitable bachelor.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Choose one of the following to write about:

1.) What do you think is Oscar Wilde's opinion of the English upper class? Do you consider his portraits of landed English gentry is loving or caustic? Cite examples from the text.

2.) Compare, in three paragraphs, three servant characters and three aristocrats in the play. Which are the more clever and worldly? How much do the upper class characters rely on the servants?

3.) Do you think there is greater personal freedom in being part of the servant class in the Victorian era or being in the Upper class. Cite examples from the text and historical background to justify your stance.

Essay Topic 2

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?

Essay Topic 3

Choose one of the following topics to write about:

1.) What aspects of a person are important to a courtship according to Cecily? How do these differ from those of Lady Bracknell?

2.) What is Algernon's stated stance on romance and marriage in Act I? Why do you think he decides to propose to Cecily in spite of this position? Cite statements made by Algernon later to justify your argument.

3.) Gwendolen's statement about always wanting to marry a man named Ernest is absurd, but her reasons for liking the name are indicative of a desire everyone has when getting married. What are her reasons for liking the name and how do they indicate a universal desire of humankind?

(see the answer keys)

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