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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 kind of company did Gulliver work for for four weeks?

2. Who was Violet trying to get away from when she left school at 16?

3. What does Gulliver say Crimond hates the idea of?

4. Who was Patricia supposed to have as her partner?

5. What did Jean study at university?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Jenkin react to Tamar's confession?

2. What reason does Crimond give for alienating his Oxford friends?

3. Why does Tamar finally agree to give up her studies?

4. What is Gulliver and Lily's relationship at the beginning?

5. Why does Crimond and Jean's plan go wrong?

6. What impassioned spech does Jean give about her and Crimond's relationship?

7. What does Gerard and Crimond discuss during their meeting about Crimond's book?

8. Why do Gideon and Pat want to adopt Tamar?

9. How do Jenkin and Gerard plan to persuade Jean to return to Duncan?

10. Why is Crimond suspicious of Tamar when she visits Jean?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Compare Duncan and Crimond:

1. What is their relationship to each other?

2. How are their ideas different?

3. How do their differences in opinion prove to be destructive?

Essay Topic 2

Examine the author's writing style. How would you describe the author's prose style? What kind of vocabulary does he use? What meaning does the author's style give to the story?

Essay Topic 3

What are the main turning points of the novel? How does Murdoch develop her story to get to each turning point? What happens to the story after a major turning point?

(see the answer keys)

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