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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 symptom of the plague?

2. What is Rieux's attitude to religion and God?

3. How is the city situated geographically?

4. How do people find out about the plague death rate?

5. What reason does Cottard give for his suicide attempt?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Fr. Paneloux tell the people in his sermon at High Mass?

2. Why is Mme. Rieux concerned about her son?

3. Who is Jean Tarrou?

4. What does M. Grand reveal in Part 2 Chapter 4?

5. What factors are making life stressful for Dr. Rieux?

6. What does Dr. Rieux muse about in Part 1 Chapter 5?

7. How do people react to Fr. Paneloux's sermon?

8. Why is Jean Tarrou important in the story?

9. What is the situation with plague serum?

10. In what way do you think Tarrou and Rieux are of like mind?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The blurb on the cover of the Penguin Edition of The Plague (c. 1969) says that the novel 'expresses most clearly the author's basic humanitarianism'. In a detailed essay, account for this point of view.

Essay Topic 2

Choose two characters from the novel, one appealing, the other not so. Compare and contrast these two characters, referring closely to the text.

Essay Topic 3

'Camus' novel The Plague shows us a hero who isn't exactly heroic.' Do you agree or disagree? What is the conventional idea of 'the hero' and does Dr. Rieux fit in with that idea? Discuss the kinds of heroism depicted in the novel.

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