View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is Florence's sole source of information about sex?

2. What is the name of Florence's younger sister?

3. Which department at Edward's college is rumored to be excitingly progressive?

4. During what decade does the couple's wedding take place?

5. For how long does Edward abstain from masturbation before his wedding?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What is the result of Edward's suggestion that the couple go downstairs to listen to the news on the radio properly?

3. What is the author's purpose for using an allusion to the silverware collection in "the Ashmolean" (68) and how does this choice relate to a larger theme within the novella?

4. How is the theme of misunderstanding portrayed within the narrator's explanation of Edward's mistaking Florence's shyness "for a form of coyness" (25)?

5. How does Florence describe her mother Violet's use of physical affection?

6. What is the sole location that Florence and Edward determine is the only instance when they were in the same place at the same time before meeting?

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

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

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

10. What distinction does the narrator make between Florence's wedding night anxieties and Edward's wedding night anxieties?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Sensory details are used frequently by the author in order to create vivid pictures of the lives of Florence and Edward. Choose three scenes in which sensory details are heavily used and discuss how the sensory details used by the author set a particular mood for each of the three scenes.

Essay Topic 2

Explicate the theme of shame within the novella, particularly in relation to the novel's female protagonist. What is the author's message regarding the emotion of shame and how do you know?

Essay Topic 3

What is the author's message regarding motherhood and what themes does the author employ in order to send these messages to the reader?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,384 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample