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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 is Winnie concerned about while Mr. Verloc is on his trip in Chapter 9?

2. Once the Assistant Commissioner arrives at the reported center of the empire, there are several constables who do what upon seeing him departing the vehicle?

3. After assuring Winnie that things will turn out all right in their escape, what does Ossipon do?

4. How did Mrs. Verloc's mother convince officials to allow her a place in a charity home when she had family to take care of her?

5. In Chapter 10, what is the initial destination the Assistant Commissioner goes to for the second time that evening?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Chapter 8 conclude with regard to Mrs. Neale?

2. Describe what Mrs. Verloc's mother is doing at the start of Chapter 8 and what is motivating her?

3. What are two objections Mrs. Verloc has toward Mrs. Neale?

4. What action does Mr. Verloc take when Mrs. Verloc goes upstairs following her confrontation with him in the kitchen after she learned of Stevie's death?

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

6. What does the assistant commissioner do after completing his visit with the secretary of state?

7. When Ossipon jumps from the moving train and abandons Mrs. Verloc with no funds, what does he tell the railway workers who gather around him?

8. At the beginning of Chapter 10, which fish are used in the discussion concerning the level of importance of the political figure to be caught?

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

10. What is the assistant commissioner watching at the conclusion of Chapter 7 and what does he observe?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Adolf Verloc is found to be a French spy by the second chapter. But it is not until Chapter 6 that the reader learns he has also been an informant for Chief Inspector Heat. By the end of Chapter 5 it is know that the bomb victim was not Heat as thought possible in Chapter 4, but who is it then? Examine how Conrad uses surprise and secrecy throughout his novel.

Essay Topic 2

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.

Essay Topic 3

In Chapter 3, Stevie is able to listen to the International Red Committee members' discussion in the parlor from his position in the adjoining kitchen. Conrad allows the reader to know that Stevie is easily upset by so much as a description of cruelty toward others. This foreshadows his reactions to subsequent events. Examine what transpires in this chapter which lays the foundation for this matter in Conrad's tale. Follow it through to the conclusion of Stevie's role in Adolf Verloc's plot.

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