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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. Having returned to her residence with Ossipon on the evening she murdered Mr. Verloc, where does Winnie see that the light remains on?

2. At the start of Chapter 11, right after Heat departs, how does Mr. Verloc find Winnie?

3. When asked, what is it that the secretary of state is told that makes it unnecessary to incarcerate the person he is concerned about?

4. What does Mr. Verloc attempt to convince his wife of concerning their relationship in their conversation after Heat departs their home?

5. What reason does the assistant commissioner give the secretary of state to have Heat removed from the investigation of that explosion?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. 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?

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

4. Who does the assistant commissioner go to see at the start of Chapter 7? What figure of speech is used to compare these two figures? And what does the person the assistant commission visits express as his initial concern?

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

6. What does Mrs. Verloc's sibling do when a cab driver whips his horse on the ride over to the charity home? Why does her sibling reaction in this way?

7. What is the assistant commissioner's primary goal in briefing Sir Ethelred?

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

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

10. 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?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Honesty, or lack of it, is a trait that is touched upon repeatedly by Conrad in this work. Some lacked virtually any at all. Others' levels of honesty were determined by what they were seeking. Examine the trait of honesty in the characters in this tale and what governed it.

Essay Topic 2

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 3

Toodles, the secretary of state's private secretary, only appears in two chapters. He is initially introduced in Chapter 7, when the assistant commissioner first reports to the secretary of state, and again in Chapter 10, when the assistant commissioner returns unexpectedly early to make his report to the secretary of state. Examine how the author uses this new character, Toodles, and both encounters he has with the assistant commissioner in relaying his tale.

(see the answer keys)

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