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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 has Dr. Castel achieved?

2. Who receives an invitation to the sermon?

3. What is at the core of Rambert's problem?

4. To what does Tarrou compare lawyers and judges?

5. What additional friendship has Tarrou made?

Short Essay Questions

1. Which characters now volunteer as plague workers?

2. In Part 4 Chapter 3, what is the situation regarding the plague serum?

3. Has Cottard really gained from his profiteering during the plague?

4. What is the reason for Rambert's decision?

5. What is the significance of M. Grand's struggle against the plague in Part 4 Chapter 7?

6. What changes does the plague seem to be undergoing?

7. What is the effect of the child's death upon the other characters?

8. What drastic developments are depicted in Part 3 Chapter 1?

9. What is unusual about Tarrou's illness?

10. How are local printing firms and newspapers able to profit by people's fear of the plague?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The Plague contains few female characters, yet while they might be 'off stage' women are important to the men who are the novel's main characters. In an essay, show how the minds and actions of Rieux, Rambert and Grand are influenced by the women they love.

Essay Topic 2

Imagine that you are a member of a school board. Some of the board members wish to remove The Plague by Albert Camus from the school district's reading program as they claim it is too depressing for students and is, furthermore, anti-Christian. Compose the speech you will deliver to defend teaching the novel. What does it contain that is of value to American students?

Essay Topic 3

Identify the sub-plots in The Plague. These concern the stories of certain characters. In an essay, show how the stories of characters compel us to be interested in the main plot--the struggle against the antagonist, which is the plague itself.

(see the answer keys)

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