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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 Pamela's response to the idea proposed by Mr. Williams?

2. How does Pamela respond to being let down by Mr. Williams?

3. After failing to help Pamela escape, Mr. Williams writes to her introducing a different subject. What is the subject?

4. By the end of Section 1, it is evident that the author is making use of the epistolary style of writing. To what does this refer?

5. Throughout Section 5, when Pamela's movements are restricted and monitored, which character is Mr. B's chief ally?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the significance of the dinner party about which Pamela writes her parents?

2. In Section 5, what role does Mr. Williams play in regard to Pamela's situation at Lincolnshire?

3. What other warnings do Pamela's parents give her at the beginning of the novel?

4. What character traits of Mrs. Jewkes are revealed in Section 5 as she acts as Mr. B's ally?

5. How do the circumstances of Pamela's life cause her to adopt one of the flaws in Mr. B's character?

6. From the very beginning, Pamela's parents seem to be aware of Mr. B as a danger to Pamela's virtue. In what way does this foreshadow later events?

7. How does Mr. B intensify his advances toward Pamela after the argument at the party?

8. How is Mr. Williams' role in helping Pamela to escape brought to an end in Section 6?

9. How does Mr. B manipulate other characters to achieve what he wants from Pamela?

10. In Section 3 of the novel, how does Mr. B's increasing interference with Pamela reveal aspects of his character and create tension?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Mr. and Mrs. Andrews are towering figures in the life of Pamela and they establish the power of simplicity, virtue and commitment in a complex and frightening world. Discuss the evidence provided by the author of the complex and frightening world in which Pamela finds herself and comment on the role of her parents in establishing that honor and virtue are powerful means of survival in such a world.

Essay Topic 2

In referring to the potential impact of Pamela on readers, Richardson asserts "Let the desponding heart be comforted by the happy issue which the troubles and trials of PAMELA met with, when they see, in her case, that no danger nor distress, however inevitable, or deep to their apprehensions, can be out of the power of Providence to obviate or relieve." With special reference to this statement and using detailed references to the text, write a critical analysis of the purposes served by Pamela's trials in the novel.

Essay Topic 3

In adapting plays and novels for screen, producers and directors often make significant changes to the themes, characters and plot lines of the original. Having studied this novel in detail, evaluate the assertion that the themes, characters and plot lines of "Pamela" would have to be significantly modified to be a successful production for modern screen.

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