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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 does Mr. Verloc do following the Red Committee meeting before going to bed?

2. What is one reason Mr. Verloc is unconcerned when he leaves his shop in the care of someone else?

3. Which member of the International Red Committee rambles at the beginning of their meeting?

4. Who is the spy named in the title of The Secret Agent?

5. Before Mr. Verloc acted as an informant, who initially followed him to his pornography business?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is it Mr. Verloc is able to leave his business in the hands of his brother-in-law in the morning?

2. How is Mr. Verloc's business establishment described?

3. What is it Mr. Vladimir seeks from Mr. Verloc?

4. Where has Mrs. Verloc's sibling been during the Red Committee's meeting and what has the reaction been?

5. Why did Michaelis subsequently receive compassion?

6. How does Ossipon learn it was Mr. Verloc who obtained explosives from the professor, and what is his reaction?

7. Toward the end of Chapter 5, Chief Inspector Heat mentions Michaelis's name, which arouses the interest of the assistant commissioner. What reason revealed in Chapter 6 causes him to become concerned?

8. What problems are faced by Winnie Verloc's lone, younger sibling?

9. How is the individual whom the professor encounters in the alley at the beginning of Chapter 5 described?

10. What are some of Karl Yundt's outstanding characteristics?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Mr. Verloc has friends of his who are members of the International Red Committee as guests discussing social reform and terrorism. Examine how the author uses his novel, The Secret Agent, as a satire on anarchism.

Essay Topic 2

One of a variety of themes which run through Conrad's novel is social reform and terrorist acts. Examine and compare the different character's views of this topic. Include the members of the International Red Committee, the professor, Chief Inspector Heat, the assistant commissioner, and the secretary of state. Consider how Conrad uses this theme through his novel.

Essay Topic 3

In Chapters 9-13, Conrad introduces into the plot numerous ironic twists of fate involving the Verlocs and Ossipon. Please describe these twists and the irony involved. Examine how Conrad uses any other ironies within his tale.

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This section contains 995 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample