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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 Revisson Doe?

2. Why does Dottie tell Fleur that she is upset?

3. What did Fleur add to the first chapter of Sir Eric Findlay's story?

4. What do Maisie and Fleur discuss during that first visit?

5. How does Fleur feel when Sir Quentin decides to take over the manuscript editing?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Fleur find unusual about Dottie when she visits Fleur after returning from Ireland?

2. What are Fleur's feelings about Lady Edwina after her first month on the job?

3. What is Fleur's frame of mind at the beginning of the novel, and why?

4. Describe any two members of the Association introduced in Chapter 2.

5. Fleur describes both Beryl Tims and Dottie, the wife of Fleur's lover, as "English Roses." What does she mean by this?

6. What new information does Dottie share with Fleur when they are nursing each other through the flu that further blurs the line between the reality of the Association and the fiction transpiring in the Warrender Chase manuscript?

7. How does Dottie anger Fleur when discussing Warrender Chase in Chapter 3?

8. When "Bucks" Gilbert hosts a party, Fleur runs into her old friend Wally. What happens between them?

9. An important parallel is drawn at the end of Chapter 6 that has, up to that point, only been mentioned by Fleur. What is it, and who brings it up?

10. Why does Fleur invite Dottie to participate in the Autobiographical Association?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Conflict between parent and child is a common theme in literature. This novel is no exception, although the parent/child conflict does not involve the main character. Analyze the sources of the parent/child conflict in Loitering with Intent and explain how it contributes to the development of the story.

Essay Topic 2

Fleur creates a character type she calls the "English Rose." Discuss how her character types are like stereotypes, and perhaps more importantly, how they are different. How might these character types be helpful to writers, or how they might hinder the telling of a story?

Essay Topic 3

Muriel Spark intentionally leaves character motivation out of Loitering with Intent. Her main character, Fleur Talbot, discusses not disclosing Warrender Chase's motivation for his evil behavior, merely the effects of his evil actions.

Discuss the concept of motivation and why you think Spark doesn't focus on the motivation of her characters' actions. Do you think this affects the reader's impressions of the novel?

(see the answer keys)

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