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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. Whose writings on Christabel does Maud give Roland?

2. Whose writing is Fergus studying?

3. What condition does Beatrice impose on Roland reading Ellen Ash's journals?

4. What did Ash send his wife during his trip?

5. What does Christabel compare herself to?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Roland's initial reaction to the letters?

2. Why is Mrs. Wapshott unwilling to sell Ash's letters to Cropper?

3. What does Maud tell Beatrice about the importance of what she finds in Ellen's journal and papers?

4. How do the three apparitions describe themselves to the child?

5. Who is responsible for ending the affair between Christabel and Ash?

6. Describe the relationship between Blackadder and Cropper.

7. How does Fergus describe Maud?

8. What does Roland read at the end of the chapter?

9. What does the child ask the apparitions that come to him on his journey?

10. How do Christabel and Ash feel about meeting secretly?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In the novel, scholars are in competition with each other, but they also must cooperate to find truths. Discuss competition versus cooperation in the novel.

1) Why do the characters keep information to themselves, as a possession? Why does Roland keep the letters, and why does Cropper "steal" photos of other letters of Ash? How does secrecy affect knowledge, both of the individual and society?

2) Why is Roland and Maud's picture of Ash and LaMotte incomplete without information from others? If they did not go to other scholars for cooperation, how would their final knowledge be different?

3) How does Cropper's attitude toward cooperation and competition differ from the other scholars in the novel?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss sexuality in the novel.

1) How is sexuality related to identity? What meanings does sexuality take on that are based on cultural perspectives? How is sexuality politicized? How does this affect Maud's life and relationships?

2) How is sexuality intertwined with intellectual experience, for Roland, Ash, Maud, and LaMotte?

3) What internal and external forces cause characters in the novel to act outside of the expected societal norm, in terms of sexuality? Discuss Leonora, Maud, Ash, Blanche, and Christabel's experiences of their own sexuality.

Essay Topic 3

The characters pursue knowledge, but they find only an interpretation, not an objective truth. Discuss objective reality in the novel.

1) How do the characters judge the relationship of their knowledge to objective truth? Can the characters ever know that they've accessed objective truth, and how might they?

2) Does objective truth have meaning to the characters? Which is more powerful in affecting the characters' lives, objective truth or the accepted understanding of reality that the characters' share?

3) How does the characters' literary investigation compare to a scientific investigation?

(see the answer keys)

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