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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 the sister tell her older brother about having money but not great beauty when looking for a husband?

2. Where does Moll take up residence after returning from Virginia?

3. Who presses Betty to marry the younger brother?

4. How is the weather during Moll's trip back to England from Virginia?

5. What does the sister tell her brother now recommends a woman to a gentleman?

Short Essay Questions

1. Listening to her mother-in-law, what does Moll suddenly realize?

2. As the story opens, why does the writer not reveal her real name?

3. To Moll's chagrin, what does the older brother insist that she do?

4. After some repentance for their sleeping together, what do Moll and the gentleman do?

5. What is the final payoff and the conditions to Moll to release the gentleman to whom she had been mistress?

6. What is Moll's experience with her second husband?

7. What happens to Moll after her husband dies?

8. What does the editor claim about Moll's new life in the American colonies?

9. What apology does the editor make about the content of the book?

10. What is Moll's life like at first in Virginia?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay of at least two typewritten, double spaced pages comparing MOLL FLANDERS to the novel, TOM JONES by Henry fielding. There is no need to read the entire novel. Simply point out similarities in characters, behaviors, use of language, point of view of the authors, and attempts to portray the stories as real histories.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay of at least two typewritten, double spaced pages on how the tastes of a majority of society at any given time affect the way writers tell their tales. Begin with the profuse apology of Defoe in the Preface that the story contains lewd behavior that has been edited and his insistence that the story is presented for its moral lesson. Give your opinion as to whether Defoe is writing tongue in cheek to satisfy the criticism he believes the novel will incur. Give examples as to how such circumspection has changed over the centuries.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay of at least two typewritten, double spaced pages on how poverty sometimes leads to crime. Use the situation in mid 18th century England as a starting point and then make your essay more general. Discuss who is really at fault when the poor resort to stealing.

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