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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 Lieutenant Le Fever?

2. Why does Walter want Tristram to wear breeches?

3. How does Tristram travel to Paris?

4. Who does Tristram consult for advice in Volume 7?

5. Who does Bridget plan to seduce?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the farcical nature of the story of the abbess and the novice.

2. Why does Tristram decide to travel abroad in Volume 7?

3. What inconsistencies exist in Tristram's friendship with Eugenuis?

4. What irony exists in Walter Shandy's attempt to write a child-rearing book?

5. How is Tristram injured at the age of five?

6. What could Bobby's death symbolize to Tristram?

7. What unusual friend does Tristram make in Lyon?

8. Why do Toby and Trim temporarily move in with Widow Wadham?

9. What might Tristram mean when he describes romance as, "It is with love as with cuck-oldom"?

10. How does Toby discover his love for Widow Wadham?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Compare and contrast Sterne's Yorick with Shakespeare's Yorick. How are both characters tragic? What role does Sterne's Yorick play in Tristram's life compared to the role Shakespeare's Yorick plays in Hamlet's life? Why might Sterne have chosen Yorick to deliver the last line of the novel?

Essay Topic 2

From what type of death is Tristram trying to escape? How is death used to create humor? What insight into Tristram's character does the theme of death give the reader?

Essay Topic 3

How are love and marriage depicted in the novel? How do the male characters view love and marriage? How do the female characters view love and marriage? What lesson does Tristram learn about love?

(see the answer keys)

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