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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. Whom does Jack ask Chasuble to christen?

2. Immediately after proposing to Cecily, who does Algernon seek out?

3. When the Cecily and Gwendolen both discover that each is engaged to Ernest, what do they compare?

4. Why is Miss Prism concerned by Chasuble's being in the vestry?

5. What does Cecily do with the scissors?

Short Essay Questions

1. What has Algernon arranged for later in the afternoon that jack has as well?

2. When Algernon arrives under the guise Ernest, what does Cecily tell him about Jack's plans?

3. What changes in Ernest's behavior does Algernon announce when he arrives at Jack's country house?

4. How does Algernon get rid of Miss Prism when he wants say goodbye to Cecily?

5. Why is Cecily always distracted from her lessons?

6. How do Cecily and Gwendolen learn the truth about Ernest?

7. Why does Gwendolen state that she wishes Cecily were older?

8. What does Cecily do to anger Gwendolen as they take tea?

9. What news does Jack bring with him when he returns home from London.

10. What argument does Jack make to Algernon about eating in times of despair, and why at the end of Act II?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Choose one of the following three options to write about:

1.) To what extent has Cecily always been at the beck and call of authority figures fro Thomas Cardew to Miss Prism. Write three paragraphs about her subjugation to three separate masters and how her diary undermines this control.

2.) Do you think that Gwendolen is an inherently rebellious character or a generally subservient character that acts against her nature in the story? Cite examples from the text to defend your answer.

3.) What is Miss Prism's motivation in the play? What is she running from and why has she decided that she will not marry?

Essay Topic 2

Do you believe that Lady Bracknell's constant fretting about Gwendolen's inauspicious betrothal, the state of over-education, and comment on train platforms (to name a few examples) indicates an implicit fear of devaluation of high society in England? Write an essay with your position, using statements about the role of the upper class to support your claim.

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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