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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who relies on the main character for support?
(a) Her father.
(b) Her fiancee.
(c) Her sister.
(d) Her mother.

2. What does the main character think Captain Everard thinks about her?
(a) He is grateful to her for her help, but cannot acknowledge it.
(b) He loves her but does not want to show it.
(c) He wants to help her, but cannot break convention to do so.
(d) He resents her intrusion into his affair, but can't acknowledge the affair.

3. How does Spencer Brydon acquire a second house?
(a) As a business investment.
(b) As a gift.
(c) He bought it.
(d) By inheritance.

4. What has Dencombe just received as 'The Middle Years' opens?
(a) His most recent book.
(b) A letter from his wife.
(c) Notice of a friend's death.
(d) A check.

5. What was terrible about the event John Marcher waited for?
(a) It would have consisted of a great love if it had happened.
(b) It had already happened, and it had already prevented great wealth for him.
(c) It would have broken him if it had happened.
(d) It consisted of nothing happening to him.

6. How does James characterize the relationship between May Bartram and John Marcher?
(a) John finds May interesting but pedestrian.
(b) May is obviously in love with John.
(c) John is obviously in love with May.
(d) May relies on John but does not love him.

7. Why do the editors say James' essays on criticism are inconsistent?
(a) They were written over the course of many years.
(b) James himself changed his mind frequently.
(c) James' work made great developmental strides over his career.
(d) James' writing was inconsistent.

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

9. What does Eve Sedgwick suggest was John Marcher's real secret?
(a) His homosexuality.
(b) His death.
(c) His pathological fears.
(d) His bankruptcy.

10. How does the telegraph operator help Lady Bradeen and Captain Everard?
(a) She prevents Lady Bradeen's husband from finding out.
(b) She hides their correspondence from investigators.
(c) She contains the fallout of their affair.
(d) She poses as Captain Everard's lover for the sake of Lady Bradeen's husband.

11. How do the editors characterize James' view on short stories?
(a) A short story could be like a mirror for the reader.
(b) A short story could be like a force of nature.
(c) A short story could be like a picture.
(d) A short story could be a roadmap for the future of society.

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

13. How does Dr. Hugh create a reason to meet Dencombe?
(a) He leaves his book on Dencombe's bench.
(b) He goes out of his way to stop at Dencombe's bench.
(c) He feigns shortness of breath.
(d) He feigns a cramp in his leg.

14. Where is the telegraph office located in ''In the Cage'?
(a) In Crocker's grocery.
(b) In the bank.
(c) In the post office.
(d) In the library.

15. Why does Dencombe feel this way?
(a) His previous books were not well received, and he does not expect this one to be either.
(b) He has published so many novels, he has gone through this before.
(c) This is his first book.
(d) He did not expect this money to come to him.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why does Lady Bradeen stop using the main character's telegraph office?

2. How does James characterize John Marcher's social life?

3. What does the main character do to help Lady Bradeen?

4. In what location is 'The Middle Years' set?

5. What distracts Dencombe from his meditation on his own future?

(see the answer keys)

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