View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In the first chapter, the narrator describes the story as what?
(a) The most scandalous story he has ever heard.
(b) The most romantic story he has ever heard.
(c) The saddest story he has ever heard.
(d) The most exciting story he has ever heard.

2. In the Ashburnham marriage, Leonora Ashburnham makes it her personal duty to do which of the following:
(a) To convert Captain Edward Ashburnham to Catholicism.
(b) To turn Captain Edward Ashburnham into a hardworking man.
(c) To convert Captain Edward Ashburnham to Protestantism.
(d) To turn Captain Edward Ashburnham into a faithful husband.

3. Why does Captain Edward Ashburnham receive a decoration from the military?
(a) For his excellence in marksmanship.
(b) For rescuing two men who had fallen overboard from a ship.
(c) For rescuing a fellow solder who had been held captive by enemies abroad.
(d) For his extraordinary bravery in battle.

4. What is Florence Dowell's maiden name?
(a) Hagerty.
(b) Contingham.
(c) Dawson.
(d) Hurlbird.

5. Who does Captain Edward Ashburnham eventually choose to be his long-term lover?
(a) Florence Dowell.
(b) Nancy Rufford.
(c) Maisie Maidan.
(d) Leonora Ashburnham.

Short Answer Questions

1. What sort of man does Florence Dowell want to marry?

2. What does Captain Edward Ashburnham do while he is in Monte Carlo?

3. What is Nancy Rufford's relationship to Leonora Ashburnham?

4. John Dowell compares his relationship with Nancy Rufford to a vacation to which of the following cities:

5. What is the name of the character who claims to have seen Florence Dowell leaving Jimmy's room at five in the morning?

Short Essay Questions

1. According to John Dowell's point of view, what qualities define American culture?

2. Is it surprising that John Dowell, the narrator in Part 3, Chapter 1, tries to justify Captain Edward Ashburnham's relationship with Nancy Rufford?

3. Why does Leonora Ashburnham become upset when Florence Dowell points to the document by Martin Luther, touches Edward's wrist and says, "It's because of that piece of paper that you're honest, sober, industrious, provident, and clean-lived. If it weren't for that piece of paper you'd be like the Irish or the Italians or the Poles, but particularly the Irish" ?

4. Do you think Captain Edward Ashburnham's romantic feelings for Nancy Rufford are morally reprehensible?

5. In Part 1, Chapter 2, John Dowell recites a folktale about a she-wolf who betrays her husband for a poet. Why is John's telling of the folktale significant?

6. Based on John Dowells narration in Chapter 1, Part 1, do you think The Good Soldier will end in resolution or in tragedy?

7. By the end of Part 2, Chapter 2, both Florence Dowell and Maisie Maidan have died. Compare and contrast the death of Maisie Maidan and the death of Florence Dowell.

8. Describe the marriage between Leonora Ashburnham and Captain Edward Ashburnham.

9. How is Florence Dowell's social behavior different from her family's?

10. What is surprising about John Dowell's reaction to Maisie Maidan's death?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,087 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample