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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. To what composer does Algernon compare his Aunt's ring? Tchaikovsky

3. How many of the cucumber sandwiches does Algernon eat?

4. What participle does Jack inadvertently substitute for "married" when he attempts to say "We must get married at once"?

5. How does Lady Bracknell feel about Jack's having lost both of his parents?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why doe Jack go by the name of Ernest in London?

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

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

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

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

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

7. Who is Bunbury?

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

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

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

Choose one of the following options to write about:

1.) What does Algernon's habit of always eating say about him as a character? Write about three examples in the play where Algernon is forced to explain his appetite and how he does so.

2.) Cecily and Miss Prism's argument about her diary and the three-volume novel say much about both? What secrets does this conversation allude to, and how does it frame each's attitude toward literature and love?

3.) Chasuble is constantly quoting - and misquoting - religious sources and tenets. How does his level of comfort with his chosen profession help or hinder his decision regarding Miss Prism at the end of the play?

Essay Topic 2

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 3

Jack Worthing begins the play admitting to a series of untruths, among them his name and his relationship with Cecily. Do you think that Jack's habit of deceiving those close to him is forgivable since no one is harmed? Do you think that Gwendolen is genuinely hurt by the revelation Jack has lied to her? What about his assertion that Ernest has died?

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