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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. The narrator states that when Edward first sees Florence, the lighting makes her face resemble a what?

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

3. What college does Florence attend?

4. What word brings to Florence's mind "nothing but pain, flesh parted before a knife" (8)?

5. In what year do Florence and Edward both attend the same protest in Trafalgar Square?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the symbolism of Edward's B- grade on his dissertation?

2. What is the effect of Florence finding the penciled performance notes in the trash at the concert hall?

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

4. What beliefs does Edward draw from listening to blues music at the Hundred Club?

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

6. 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?

7. 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?

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

9. 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)?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How do the themes of secrecy and transparency function within the novella and what is the author's message regarding these themes?

Essay Topic 2

William Faulkner once famously claimed that the most important literature deals with the subject of the human heart in conflict with itself. Explain how the theme of Human versus Self is demonstrated within Ian McEwan's novella On Chesil Beach. Create a decisive, arguable claim and prove it with quotes from the book.

Essay Topic 3

Analyze the interplay between the resolution of the novella and the author's choice of narrator to relay the narrative. How does the author employ each and how does their juxtaposition help the author get across the main messages of the novella?

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