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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. Who leaves Maugham a note at his hotel?

2. Where have the police found Sophie's body?

3. Why does Elliott refuse to lend Paul his costume?

4. In what city does Gray want to set up his business?

5. What does Maugham compliment Isabel on to calm her down?

Short Essay Questions

1. Explain what Larry sees and feels when he experiences the Absolute?

2. What is the story of Sophie's disappearance?

3. What is Maugham's opinion of Isabel's character?

4. What is Isabel's terrible news?

5. How does Maugham obtain an invitation?

6. What does Elliott say in answer to Edna's invitation?

7. What does Maugham imagine about Isabel and Gray's life in Texas?

8. What does Larry learn about evil in India?

9. In what way does Sophie embody the book's theme of good and evil?

10. How does Isabel react to Sophie's disappearance?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Examine the problems Europe faced after the First World War. Did Europe change? How did this change affect America? Was this change reflected in the arts? Find an art movement after the First World War and examine what kind of thoughts and feelings it was trying to express. Are these thoughts also reflected in Maugham's the Razor's Edge?

Essay Topic 2

Look at the structure of the novel.

1) How does Maugham use character and dialogue to drive the narrative.

2) Discuss elements of the narrative structure: exposition, conflict, complication, climax, resolution and conclusion. Do all the elements make for a logical and linear story? How does the story's structure express the novel's themes?

3) Away from the main character, Larry, examine the way Maugham uses the other characters in the story. When does he introduce and take them away from the story? What effect does it have on the story?

Essay Topic 3

Examine the novel's dialogue. How does Maugham's dialogue contribute to the following areas:

1) Character

2) Setting

3) Plot

(see the answer keys)

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