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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What trend was creating a scandal at Oxford University in 1875?
(a) Abolition.
(b) Homosexuality.
(c) Anti-Catholicism.
(d) Irish nationalism.

2. Which feat did Oscar Wilde claim to be capable of?
(a) Memorizing all the elements on the periodic table.
(b) Beating his teachers at chess.
(c) Reading facing pages at the same time.
(d) Memorizing the Iliad.

3. Who does Oscar Wilde live with immediately after he graduates from Oxford?
(a) William Langtry.
(b) Robert Osborn.
(c) Frank Miles.
(d) Keith Balcombe.

4. How does Oscar Wilde return to England from America?
(a) Rich with American dollars.
(b) In poverty.
(c) On his own boat.
(d) With fame, but little money.

5. Which direction does Oscar Wilde's lecturing tour travel in?
(a) From the north to the south and then west and north before returning to the east.
(b) From the northeast, west through Canada to the West Coast, and south again before returing east.
(c) From the east coast to the west coast and back.
(d) From the south to the northeast and back to the south.

6. What does Ellman give as a possible reason for Wilde's dislike for sports?
(a) Wilde was bullied by older boys.
(b) Wilde was trampled in a soccer game.
(c) Wilde had an early childhood disease which deformed him.
(d) Wilde broke his arm twice.

7. What is Oscar Wilde's daughter's name?
(a) Vyvyan.
(b) Marie.
(c) Alexandra.
(d) Constance.

8. What were the gate receipts for Oscar Wilde's first lecture in America?
(a) $2,571.
(b) $452.
(c) $81.
(d) $1,211.

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

10. What does Oscar Wilde do for work immediately after he graduates from Oxford?
(a) He lectured on aesthetics.
(b) He edited the Encyclopedia Britannica.
(c) He taught at Oxford.
(d) He wrote art reviews.

11. What does Oscar Wilde do at Marie Prescott's request?
(a) He moved to Paris.
(b) He returned to England.
(c) He rewrote "Vera."
(d) He added a part for her in "The Duchess of Padua."

12. What does Oxford University do for Oscar Wilde after his School's Examinations in 1878?
(a) Extended his Demyship for another year.
(b) Paid for his medical bills.
(c) Asked him to leave the school.
(d) Offered him a lecturership in aesthetics.

13. Oscar Wilde's debates with James McNeill Whistler are included in which of Wilde's works?
(a) "The Importance of Being Earnest."
(b) "Personal Impressions of America."
(c) "The Duchess of Padua."
(d) "The Picture of Dorian Gray."

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

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What is Oscar Wilde's first publication?

2. What is the name of the scholarship Oscar Wilde won to Oxford?

3. How does Robert Harborough Sherard's impression of Oscar Wilde change once he gets to know him?

4. What is the name of the man who attacked Oscar Wilde mercilessly during his American lectures?

5. How does Oscar Wilde's wife handle the news of Wilde's homosexuality?

(see the answer keys)

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