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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. When Nancy Rufford is a child, how does her father treat her?

2. Which Christian denomination do Leonora Ashburnham's parents follow?

3. What is Nancy Rufford's religion?

4. Which Christan denomination do Captain Edward Ashbunham's parents follow?

5. Soon after Leonora Ashburnham marries Captain Edward Ashburnham, what does she discover about her husband? .

Short Essay Questions

1. Why do you suppose Leonora Ashburnham never turned to her family for advice on her marriage?

2. Of all the characters presented thus far in the book, who is the most right-minded?

3. John Dowell describes Nancy Rufford as a young and exuberant Catholic school girl. Is Nancy as pious and righteous as her religious upbringing might suggest?

4. Do you think Nancy is a good judge of character?

5. In Part 4, Chapter 5, John Dowell claims that he is jealous of Leonora Ashburnham. What reason does John have for being jealous of Leonora?

6. What must Nancy reject in order to make her decision to meet her mother in Glasgow?

7. Part 4, Chapter 4 seems to imply that the Ashburnhams have been lying to Nancy about her family. Is it right for the Ashburnhams to keep Nancy Rufford's family history a secret?

8. In Part 4, Chapter 1, what is John Dowell's motivation for blaming both Leonora Ashburnham and Florence Dowell for the downfall of the Ashburnham marriage and not Captain Edward Ashburnham?

9. Given Captain Edward Ashburnham's adulterous history, why does Leonora Ashburnham send Edward and Nancy to a concert together?

10. Does Leonora Ashburnham approve of the affair between Captain Edward Ashburnham and Maisie Maidan?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Why does John Dowell not intervene in Edward Ashburnham's suicide? Does John fail to intervene because he wants to treat Edward as compassionately as one putting down a suffering old dog? Or does John not intervene for more sinister reasons? What are the possible motivations John may have for allowing Edward to die?

Essay Topic 2

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?

Essay Topic 3

What is the overall message behind The Good Soldier?

(see the answer keys)

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