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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What word brings to Florence's mind "nothing but pain, flesh parted before a knife" (8)?
(a) Penetration.
(b) Proclivity.
(c) Intercourse.
(d) Entered.

2. In what subject does Edward earn his first degree?
(a) French.
(b) Biology.
(c) History.
(d) Mathematics.

3. How does Florence feel about the prospect of having children?
(a) She does not think she would make a good mother.
(b) She is worried that she will engage in the same types of abuse to which she had been subjected.
(c) She thinks that she would love being pregnant by Edward.
(d) She fears the prospect of childbirth.

4. Florence and Edward's wedding takes place at what location?
(a) Piccadilly Square.
(b) St. Mary's Cathedral.
(c) St. James's Cathedral.
(d) Hyde Park.

5. On the day Edward meets Florence, what vehicle does he use to get to the train station?
(a) A taxi.
(b) A motorcycle.
(c) A bicycle.
(d) A truck.

Short Answer Questions

1. How old is Florence when her father Geoffrey takes her on each of the two boat trips to Carteret?

2. What is Florence wearing when Edward sees her for the first time?

3. In what year of college does Florence secure a job backstage at Wigmore Hall?

4. What item does Florence flirtatiously accept from Edward during their wedding night dinner at the hotel?

5. What does Edward do with Florence's hand in the movie theater that causes Florence to leap out of her seat?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the author's purpose for including the detail that on the cover of Florence's paperback guide for brides is "portrayed two smiling bug-eyed matchstick figures holding hands, drawn clumsily in white chalk, as though by an innocent child" (12)?

2. What legend exists about the shingle on Chesil Beach and how does it inform the couple's plans?

3. What is the significance of the "contradiction" (28) the author describes as living within Florence's soul from the moment Edward asks her to marry him?

4. What technique does Florence use in order to conceal her feelings from her family?

5. What is the significance of Florence's feelings about the word "penetration"? (8)

6. How is irony employed within the narrator's description of the moment Edward asks Florence to marry him?

7. For what reasons does Florence say it is harder for her to contradict her father, Geoffrey, than it is for her to contradict her mother Violet?

8. How is foreshadowing present within the narrator's description of Florence's attitude toward arguments?

9. What phenomenon does Florence witness when it comes to girls her age getting boyfriends and how does her realization shape her behavior?

10. In a rare moment of assertiveness, Florence tells her mother Violet that she is disappointed in her. What reason does she give for her disappointment?

(see the answer keys)

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