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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How did Oscar Wilde feel about his dialogue with William Butler Yeats?
(a) Satisfied with the decay of art and culture.
(b) Repulsed by the presence of myth in literature.
(c) Depressed about the prospect of getting old.
(d) Impressed with the nature of life and art.

2. What was Oscar Wilde's reaction to the attacks that were made on him?
(a) He sued his attackers for slander.
(b) He appealed to Bishop Manning for help.
(c) He responded with vitriolic wit.
(d) He skipped his Baltimore speaking engagement.

3. Who cables Oscar Wilde with an invitation to lecture?
(a) Richard D'Oyly.
(b) Walt Whitman.
(c) President Garfield.
(d) James McNeill Whistler.

4. With whom does Oscar Wilde move in when he goes to Paris?
(a) Robert Harborough Sherard.
(b) Archibald Forbes.
(c) Rennell Rodd.
(d) Marie Prescott.

5. Which intellectual appeals to conscience over imagination?
(a) Arnold.
(b) Mill.
(c) Ruskin.
(d) Pater.

6. What belief does Pater lead Oscar Wilde to?
(a) Art can transcend reality.
(b) Man can govern himself.
(c) Art can improve society.
(d) Work can set you free.

7. Who is Archibald Forbes?
(a) Oscar Wilde's agent.
(b) An American art critic.
(c) A war journalist.
(d) One of Oscar Wilde's lovers.

8. Why does Oscar Wilde linger in America after he completes his lectures?
(a) To stay with a lover.
(b) To visit with one of his mentors who had moved to America.
(c) To revise his lectures and write new material.
(d) To pursue his interests in the theatre.

9. Why did Oscar Wilde need a special dispensation to join the group he joined in 1875?
(a) He was Irish.
(b) He was Protestant.
(c) He was Catholic.
(d) He was under twenty-one.

10. What was Oscar Wilde's father's profession?
(a) Lawyer.
(b) Politician.
(c) Obstetrician.
(d) Eye doctor.

11. When does Oscar Wilde graduate from Oxford?
(a) 1876.
(b) 1877.
(c) 1891.
(d) 1878.

12. How does Oscar Wilde spend money?
(a) Conservatively.
(b) Carelessly.
(c) Lavishly.
(d) Parsimoniously.

13. Where does Oscar Wilde first publish?
(a) The Oxford Review.
(b) The Dublin University Magazine.
(c) The Irish Times.
(d) The Frankfurt Times.

14. What split does Oscar Wilde's poetry explore?
(a) Between reflective and pragmatic man.
(b) Between aesthetic and ethical man.
(c) Between Irish and English man.
(d) Between man and superman.

15. Oscar Wilde's mother was a strong supporter of which political cause?
(a) Anti-colonialism.
(b) Women's rights.
(c) Abolition of slavery.
(d) Irish nationalism.

Short Answer Questions

1. What defines Oscar Wilde's style?

2. How long does Oscar Wilde stay in America after he finishes his lecture series?

3. What does Oscar Wilde encourage Lillie Langtry to do?

4. Who is Lillie Langtry?

5. What trend was creating a scandal at Oxford University in 1875?

(see the answer keys)

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