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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Whose life does John Marcher think his life should have resembled?
(a) Everyone else's.
(b) His brother's.
(c) May Bartram's.
(d) His father's.

2. What did people think fiction should do, according to Henry James?
(a) Educate or entertain.
(b) Raise powerful questions.
(c) Undermine the dominant paradigm.
(d) Restore the golden age.

3. What does Dr. Hugh bring to Dencombe after Dencombe's collapse?
(a) Medication.
(b) Jewelry from the Countess.
(c) A copy of his first book for Dencombe to sign.
(d) A favorable review in a literary journal.

4. What warning does Miss Vernham give Dencombe?
(a) To leave Dr. Hugh alone.
(b) To take care of his own health.
(c) To tend to his health not his writing.
(d) To pay more attention to the Countess.

5. What distracts Dencombe from his meditation on his own future?
(a) He picks up his book.
(b) He watches people milling about on the lawn below him.
(c) He watches the birds in the trees.
(d) Three people walking up the path.

6. James' critical language come from ___________.
(a) Literature.
(b) Music.
(c) Dance.
(d) Painting.

7. What inducement does the fiancee offer the main character?
(a) Undying affection.
(b) A more luxurious lifestyle.
(c) Savings on rent.
(d) Help with her housework.

8. Why does John Marcher think he was invited along?
(a) He was so polite.
(b) He got lost in the crowd.
(c) He would talk to the old ladies.
(d) He looked so pitiable.

9. With whom does the main character become infatuated?
(a) Mr. Mudge.
(b) Captain Everard.
(c) Lady Bradeen.
(d) Mrs. Jordan.

10. How does the main character find out that Lady Bradeen's husband has discovered the affair with Captain Everard?
(a) By chance.
(b) By talking with another telegraph operator.
(c) By talking with Mrs. Jordan.
(d) By talking with Captain Everard.

11. Who haunts the house on jolly corner?
(a) The man Spencer Brydon could have been.
(b) Spencer Brydon's love for Miss Staverton.
(c) Spencer Brydon's former self.
(d) Spencer Brydon's father.

12. What is Miss Staverton's relationship with Spencer Brydon?
(a) Old friends.
(b) Old lovers.
(c) Cousins.
(d) Sister-brother.

13. What is Dr. Hugh's reaction to Dencombe's book?
(a) He is enthusiastic by reserved.
(b) He praises it lavishly.
(c) He is profoundly personally moved.
(d) He is unrestrainedly critical.

14. What happens to Lady Bradeen's husband after he discovers his wife's affair?
(a) He leaves her.
(b) He dies.
(c) He falls ill.
(d) He takes a lover of his own.

15. How long ago did May Bartram and John Marcher meet?
(a) 4 years.
(b) 7 or 10 years.
(c) A month.
(d) 1 year.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is Captain Everard's relationship with Lady Bradeen?

2. What does Dencombe find when he reads his new book?

3. What does Dencombe feel about his writing career?

4. What does Eve Sedgwick suggest was John Marcher's real secret?

5. What is John Marcher there to see?

(see the answer keys)

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