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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. Who is the 70-year-old woman that the man in the red waistcoat addresses outside of her home at Number Four Cecil Street in Chapter 1?

2. Who was the master of Mr. Buckle’s home on Great Queen Street prior to Mr. Buckle?

3. In what year was John Sheppard said to have been hanged in Chapter 13?

4. What does Tobias take out and spin when he hypnotizes Jack in Chapter 22?

5. What has Jack drunk a bottle of from Mr. Butler’s cellar when he awakens in the morning in Chapter 32?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is the setting for the novel established in Chapter 1? When and where does the story begin?

2. How is Mercy’s childhood described in Chapter 19? How did Mercy come to meet Mr. Butler?

3. What does the reader learn about the relationship between Mr. Butler and Mercy in Chapter 30? What does Jack reveal to Mr. Butler in this chapter?

4. What deal is made between Jack and Tobias in Chapter 13?

5. How are Jack’s daily activities described in Chapter 25? How does he spend his time?

6. Where does Tobias travel to in Chapter 34? What does he do at this location?

7. How have Mr. Butler’s perceptions of Jack changed in Chapter 28?

8. Where does Jack fall asleep in Chapter 12? Who finds him?

9. What news does Mr. Butler bring to Mr. Oates when Mr. Oates returns in Chapter 36?

10. Who arrives at the home of Percy in Chapter 37? How is this character described?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe and discuss the childhood of Mercy Larkin. How old was Mercy when her father died? What led Mercy and her mother to leave their home after her father’s death? Where did they move? How is this setting and lifestyle described?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the theme of secrecy in the novel. What secrets has the author revealed of the main characters in the first twelve chapters of the book? How do you foresee these secrets integrating themselves into the plot of the story?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the history of Australia as a penal colony for the British. When was Australia discovered and colonized? How did it come to be a penal colony? How was the colony structured? When was the penal colony dissolved? How do you think author Peter Carey’s Australian heritage influenced his writing of Jack Maggs?

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