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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. John Dowell can only recall one particular dress his wife Florence wore during their stay at Nauheim. What kind of material is this dress made out of?

2. How does Maisie Maidan die?

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

4. For what reason is Captain Edward Ashburnham almost imprisoned?

5. According to John Dowell, how long does it take Captain Edward Ashburnham to grow tired of Florence Dowell?

Short Essay Questions

1. 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?

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

4. Is it wise for John Dowell to marry Florence?

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

6. Describe the point of view from which The Good Soldier is written.

7. How does Maisie Maidan die?

8. In Part 1, Chapter 3, John Dowell recalls one particular dress his wife Florence wore during their stay at Nauheim. Describe the dress and its significance.

9. Describe Nancy Rufford's relationship with Captain Edward Ashburnham.

10. Florence Dowell proposes that she and Captain Edward Ashburnham should divorce their spouses and move to California. Why would divorcing her husband and moving to California with Edward be a sacrifice for Florence Dowell?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is the overall message behind The Good Soldier?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the significance of John Dowell's unreliability as a narrator. To what extent can the reader accept John's vision of the world as the truth? Is John's unreliability as a narrator a tantalizing source of conflict within the novel or merely an aesthetic fumble on the part of the author? How would the reader's experience change if the novel were told from a third person, omniscient point of view? Does the use of an unreliable narrator at all relate to the novel's themes?

Essay Topic 3

What message does The Good Soldier send about the institution of marriage? Does the novel present a positive, negative, or indifferent view of marriage? Does Ford aim to leave the reader believing, like John Dowell, that marriage is a rotten apple and a prison?

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