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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 is NOT a quality Edward lists among the qualities of Harold Mather's that would have made Harold the perfect victim at Edward's grammar school?

2. Whenever Edward gets a point in the tennis matches against Geoffrey, Geoffrey mutters a lecture that Edward thinks involves what?

3. What is the name of Florence's string quartet?

4. A symphony by which composer is playing on the stereophonic record player the first time Edward tells Florence that he loves her?

5. What is the main reason that Edward accepts Florence's invitation to attend a quartet rehearsal?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the author's purpose for introducing Edward's memory about the combine harvester?

2. For what reason does Florence ask Edward to tell her "something" as they are getting ready to consummate their marriage (125)?

3. How is the fact of Florence's childhood sexual abuse again underscored by the author during the scene of Florence and Edward's wedding night sexual mishap?

4. What does the narrator mean when writing about Florence, "It helped her to settle on the basics, and she spelled them out for herself in stupid clarity" (105)?

5. What is the significance of Florence's unfamiliarity with the names of birds and of plants?

6. How is irony employed within the narrator's portrayal of Edward's struggle to unzip Florence's dress?

7. What does the narrator name as Edward's main source of information about women?

8. What does Edward say would likely have happened if he had beaten Geoffrey in a tennis match?

9. How is irony present within the narrator's statement that "It crossed Edward's mind, barely seriously, that he was rather too keen to give his daughter away" (140)?

10. What qualities of fistfights appeal to Edward?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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

Essay Topic 2

Analyze the novella On Chesil Beach from an Existential perspective. What elements of life does it suggest hold the most meaning and why?

Essay Topic 3

Analyze the author's use of Aristotle's appeals in shaping the story of On Chesil Beach. Discuss at least two examples of ethos, two examples of logos, and two examples of pathos used by the author within the narrative in order to influence the reader in particular ways.

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