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. To whom does Winnie's mother entrust what she views as her most valuable asset, her son Stevie?

2. What is the assistant commissioner's action with the secretary of state's private secretary early in the evening of the Greenwich Park bombing?

3. What kind of transportation have Winnie and Ossipon chosen to take on the evening of Mr. Verloc's death?

4. Winnie imagines herself being put to death for her husband's murder and falling how many feet from the gallows with a rope around her neck?

5. Specifically, what is it Winnie offers in exchange for Ossipon's assistance in escape on the evening of Mr. Verloc's demise?

Short Essay Questions

1. What three things surprise Mr. Verloc upon his return from his ten days away?

2. Shortly after murdering Mr. Verloc, which individual does Winnie encounter in the street offering his assistance, and why is it ironic?

3. Identify the individual the assistant commissioner is speaking with at the close of Chapter 10 and what says that might be a quote from his own subordinate.

4. What is described as being what Mrs. Verloc fears most in the beginning of Chapter 12?

5. What is Mr. Verloc's disposition at the beginning of Chapter 9?

6. What name does Mrs. Verloc refer to Ossipon by and why does it excite him?

7. What exchange takes place between Mr. and Mrs. Verloc on the afternoon he returns from his out-of-country trip, when he announces he is interested in taking a walk?

8. What is the opening scene of Chapter 11once Chief Inspector Heat has departed the Verloc home?

9. What does Mr. Verloc attempt to stress to his wife regarding the death of her sibling?

10. Where does the assistant commissioner go for his evening meal and what catches his attention?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Compare and contrast Conrad's tale upon the actual bombing around which it is loosely based. What are the similarities? What are the differences? Did Conrad's work warrant the complaint it received?

Essay Topic 2

Mr. Verloc fears the consequences of failing to satisfy his superiors. Consider in detail this and other instances of Conrad's use of the theme of fear in his story.

Essay Topic 3

Ossipon is introduced in Chapter 3 during the meeting in Mr. Verloc's parlor. The professor is introduced when he is met by chance by Ossipon at the Silenus beer-hall in Chapter 4. The pair are detailed at length through their encounter in this chapter. At the end of the novel the pair again go to the Silenus. Explore and compare each of these character's dispositions, what changes have occurred by the final chapter, and why.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,152 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample