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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 sort of coin does William mistakenly attempt to give the steward on the train to London?

2. Which member of the Boot family owns the house and estate?

3. With whom does William meet at the first Ishmaelite Legation?

4. What animal does the Captain of the <i>Francmacon</i>'s wife keep as a pet?

5. What famous reporter has <i>The Daily Beast</i> recently lost to a competitor?

Short Essay Questions

1. In what way does Lord Copper directly contradict himself while speaking to William about the Ishmaelian conflict?

2. What important piece of news does Kätchen bring to William after the former spends a morning shopping?

3. How do William and Corker both feel about Dr. Benito at the meeting of the Foreign Press Association?

4. What primarily disgusts William about the <i>Daily Beast</i> on his return to civilized parts of the world?

5. What begins to bother William professionally towards the end of Chapter 2?

6. How has Sir Jocelyn Hitchcock left the service of Lord Copper's <i>Daily Beast</i>?

7. Why is Mr. Salter sympathetic in thought if not action to William's desire to stay home and continue writing <i>Lush Places</i>?

8. How is William able to send his second big story to the <i>Daily Beast</i> after the Soviet coup?

9. What is revealed about the priorities of the <i>Daily Beast</i> by the man asking for William's passport as he is about to depart?

10. What does William think about when he sees the unappetizing fish offered to him at lunch aboard the <i>Francmacon</i>?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In a carefully developed analytical essay, define satire, explain how a work of fiction may be satirical, and then demonstrate how Evelyn Waugh's Scoop is a satirical novel. Which characters and actions are satirical in nature? What is satirized and how? How are the elements of satire (irony, sarcasm, exaggeration, contrast) employed by Waugh?

Essay Topic 2

In addition to poking fun at the lifestyles of Britain's rich and famous, Evelyn Waugh's Scoop places an ironic twist on literary romance. Usually the protagonist wins the beautiful damsel, sweeping her away from the insensitive brute. In Scoop, the damsel goes off with the brute after using the resources of the protagonist for personal gain. Write an analysis of the "love story" within Scoop. In what ways does it ironically parallel the traditional romantic story of literature? What is the significance of the corrupted love story to the whole of the plot? How does it affect William?

Essay Topic 3

The primary target of Evelyn Waugh's satirical novel Scoop is the newspaper industry as a whole. Though not explicitly attacked at any one moment in the story, the industry is repeatedly derided by the actions of those who represent it and the effects they produce by their actions. Analyze this satirization of the newspaper industry. What absurdities about the industry are revealed by Waugh's novel? What are the motivations of the papers in the story? What sort of journalism do they practice, and how is it shown to be lacking?

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