View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. How is Merivel's playing?

2. Who does Celia love?

3. What piece of attire does Merivel find sweaty and itchy?

4. Who does Merivel need to meet before he can court and marry Celia?

5. How does Lady Bathurst react to Celia moving into the mansion?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Merivel convince Lady Bathurst that she has nothing to worry about regarding Celia?

2. What is wrong with Lady Bathurst's husband?

3. How does Merivel get into Celia's room?

4. Why does Degeulasse de Gourly come to visit Merivel?

5. Describe what Pearce tells Merivel about the present Finn brings.

6. Why does Reverend Sackpole want Merivel to examine Nell?

7. How does Celia act during her meetings with Merivel before the wedding?

8. What does Merivel fantasize about while he's having sex with Violet?

9. What does Merivel think about his promise as an artist before he begins trying to paint?

10. How does Merivel imagine the representation of his astrological sign?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the characters' control over their own lives in the novel.

1) How does a character's birth and family affect his or her life in the novel? Can a character change the course of his or her life?

2) How does chance and fate affect the characters' lives in the novel?

3) How do characters control their own lives and futures in the novel, and to what extent?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the different settings in the novel.

1) How does the King's palace differ from how the majority of people in the kingdom live? What significance is there to the Psychic Garden or to other areas of the King's palace?

2) What does Merivel's decoration of his manor indicate about his own personality? Why does the manor give Merivel a position as Lord and as Overseer of the Poor? What other significance does the manor have?

3) What does the setting of the mental hospital add to the novel? What significance do the hospital's gates have?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss loyalty in the novel.

1) Who is Merivel loyal to in the novel? Does Merivel remain loyal to the King? Why does Merivel lie to Celia about the King's message?

2) Are the characters loyal to themselves? In what ways? What happens when a character is disloyal, to himself or to another?

3) What is the relationship between loyalty and love? Can loyalty in the novel exist without love?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 597 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample