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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. In what year was Oscar Wilde born?

2. What religion is Oscar Wilde baptized into the second time?

3. Which item is part of each course during the dinner Oscar Wilde has in Leadville, Colorado?

4. What is the name of the journal in which Oscar Wilde published a poem about a boy?

5. Oscar Wilde's debates with James McNeill Whistler are included in which of Wilde's works?

Short Essay Questions

1. What themes does Oscar Wilde write about in his journalism?

2. Why was Oscar Wilde's first play never produced?

3. What did Oscar Wilde do when he lost his University Demyship?

4. What was Oscar Wilde's primary challenge in his fourth year at Oxford, and how did he meet it?

5. What was the outcome of Oscar Wilde's trip to America?

6. How was Oscar Wilde exposed to homosexuality?

7. Describe the history and premier of Oscar Wilde's play "Vera."

8. How did Oscar Wilde feel about his studies at Oxford?

9. Describe Oscar Wilde's relationship with Rennell Rodd.

10. How are Oscar Wilde's lectures received in America?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Oscar Wilde was always extravagant with his money. How does his extravagance fit with his brief, epigrammatic literary style? Is there an aesthetic that unites these two aspects of his personality, or are they simply different sides of the writer's life?

Essay Topic 2

After Oscar Wilde was convicted of homosexuality, his friends urged him to flee to Paris. Why did he not flee? What did he gain by remaining in England and being imprisoned? What did he lose?

Essay Topic 3

Oscar Wilde wrote only one novel, "The Picture of Dorian Gray." How is this novel different from his plays and poems? What part of his personality does he express that is not expressed elsewhere? How does his novel resemble his plays and poems? How is it different?

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