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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 Dencombe say about his best books?

2. What does the main character think Captain Everard thinks about her?

3. What does May Bartram buy in London?

4. What does John Marcher realize he should have done?

5. Whose house is on Jolly Corner?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe Spencer Brydon's encounter with his alter ego.

2. Describe the meeting between Dencombe and Dr. Hugh.

3. Describe Dencombe's feelings about his own work.

4. What is the significance of the title of this story?

5. What rules does James lay out for writing?

6. What does Marcher realize when May Bartram dies?

7. Where had John Marcher and May Bartram met previously, and what had happened then?

8. What is the difference between the doctor's relationship with Dencombe and his relationship with the Countess?

9. Under what conditions does Spencer Brydon meet Miss Staverton again?

10. How does James address the superstition that fiction is diabolical?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Is James' outlook tragic or comic? Is it realistic or pragmatic? Make an argument for the overall tone of James' stories.

Essay Topic 2

James is occasionally very specific about the season in which his stories are set. What is the literal or symbolic importance of the seasons and nature in James' stories?

Essay Topic 3

Describe Henry James' views about social class, as represented in his stories. Is he someone who believes in the value of class, or does he seem to believe that every human being is inherently equal?

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