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. When Mr. Verloc confronts Winnie on the night of Stevies death, what does he say about the death?

2. To which neighborhood does the Assistant Commissioner travel quickly by hansom from Soho on the evening of the Greenwich Park blast?

3. On which road is Mr. Verloc's shop and residence located?

4. What does Mr. Verloc tell his wife when he finds her right after Heat leaves their home?

5. What does Private Secretary Toodles initially assume when the assistant sommissioner arrives unexpectedly soon at the office of the secretary of state?

Short Essay Questions

1. 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?

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

3. 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?

4. Describe what is compared to the sound of an insane clock at the conclusion of Chapter 11?

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

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

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

8. 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?

9. 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?

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

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

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 3

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.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,338 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample