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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. What does Fleur see in Sir Quentin's drawer?

2. Who is Mrs. Fisher?

3. Where does Fleur find her manuscript after arriving at Dottie's flat?

4. Fleur tells Sir Quentin that she knows he plagiarized her novel and plans to sue him. How does he respond?

5. What is the primary reason Fleur feels so indignant about being accused of libeling the Autobiographical Association?

Short Essay Questions

1. Fleur desperately wants to do what when she gets home with her manuscript? What does she do instead?

2. When her novel is ultimately published, how does Fleur initially react?

3. Fleur's job at the Association has changed by Chapter 7. What are her duties now?

4. Chapter 11 is filled with a great deal of information, often through Fleur's narrations from the present as she remembers the events of her past. Describe two concepts on which she sheds light at this point in the book.

5. In Chapter 9, yet another character points out a correlation between Warrender Chase and reality. Who is it, and what is pointed out?

6. Describe how at least one of the maxims Fleur remembers from childhood helps direct her actions as attempts to get her manuscript back.

7. What was Fleur's internal reaction to the tragic news in Chapter 8?

8. Before Fleur leaves the flat, Lady Edwina gives her something in secret. When she reads it later, what does she find?

9. How does Sir Quentin lure Fleur to his office after she retypes her manuscript and gives the copies to Solly?

10. As Fleur goes to bed the night after the meeting with the publisher, about what can she not stop thinking ?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss Fleur's friendships. She has both male and female friends, and as with most people, each of her friends appeals to her differently. Who are her closest friends? Why are they important to her? Compare and contrast at least three of her relationships in terms of their basis.

Essay Topic 3

The element of time is used in creative ways in literature. A sequence of events might be told other than chronologically; sometimes time is suspended, accelerated or slowed down. How does Spark use time as a framework for the novel? Do not merely summarize plot points, rather, discuss how her use of time affects the story.

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