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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 Alexandra decide to do after playing with Henry for awhile?

2. Why does Jordan decide not to divorce Alexandra?

3. What is another mistake Alexandra makes at the ball?

4. To what does Jordan liken Alexandra leaving his bed in the middle of the night?

5. What does Anthony explain to Alexandra?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does everyone not know about Jordan at the time of Alexandra's coming out ball?

2. What does Alexandra do that upsets Jordan the next morning and what does he order her to do?

3. How does Lord Carstairs create more tension between Jordan and Alexandra?

4. What happens as Jordan is talking with Lord Camden and what does Jordan do as a result?

5. Why does the Dowager ask Lord Ponsonby to dance with Alexandra and how does she respond?

6. What increases Fawkes' belief that Alexandra and Anthony are plotting to kill Jordan?

7. What does Anthony tell Alexandra that begins her getting over grieving Jordan?

8. What does the Dowager finally ask of Anthony and what is his response?

9. Why does Jordan postpone his official duties for the day?

10. How do Jordan and Alexandra differ in their reactions to being at Hawthorne?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss one of the following:

1. Trace and analyze the theme of growth in Something Wonderful. Consider the following questions as you write: What characters are most concerned with growth? Why? What are some symbols of growth? Symbols of rigidity? What characters seem rigid?

2. Trace and analyze the theme of individual freedom in Something Wonderful. Which characters struggle with this issue? Why? Which characters seem to possess individual freedom? Why? Why is individual freedom more difficult to obtain for some characters than other ones?

3. Trace and analyze the theme of tradition in Something Wonder. What is Alexandra's view of tradition? Jordan's?The Dowager Duchess's? Alexandra's family? The English culture at the tim? Why is tradition important to some characters? Is anyone willing to abandon traditional viewpoints? Who? What are the positive and negative sides to holding fast to tradition?

Essay Topic 2

Something Wonderful takes place in and about London, England in the early 1800s. Discuss the following:

1. Research and discuss the political and cultural setting of Europe in the early 1800s. How do you think the cultural milieu informs the plot of Something Wonderful? Explain.

2. Discuss the lives of Jordan and his social group in light of the class structure in England at the time of Something Wonderful. Do their behaviors seem superficial considering that the Napoleonic Wars are ongoing?

3. How would the plot be impacted if the setting were in the United States at that time? How about in England in the 21st century?

4. How important do you think it is to understand the setting of a particularly book? Explain.

Essay Topic 3

Plots are sometimes said to be either character-driven or action-driven. Discuss the following:

1. What do you think it means to say that a plot is character driven? Action driven?

2. How do you think a plot differs if it is character driven versus action driven?

3. Which type of plot do you find more interesting? Why?

4. Do you think Something Wonderful is more character-driven or action-driven? Or balanced between the two? Explain.

(see the answer keys)

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