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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 Leonora Ashburnham tell Nancy Rufford about the whereabouts of Nancy's mother?

2. According to John Dowell, why is Leonora Ashburnham to blame for the destruction of her own marriage?

3. What title does Captain Edward Ashburnham's father go by?

4. After Captain Edward Ashburnham's romantic attachment to the woman he met during his reunion with the military , he and his wife go to which of the following places:

5. Where does Captain Edward Ashburnham take the courtesan he meets in Monte Carlo?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does John Dowell continually excuse Captain Edward Ashburnham from the reader's judgment?

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

3. Of what significance is the discovery that John Hurlbird's heart disease was a misdiagnosis?

4. Who is Nancy's father? Edward White or Cornell Rufford?

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

7. Is Leonora Ashburnham a sympathetic character?

8. 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?

9. 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?

10. How has Captain Edward Ashburnham changed since his youth?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Is Edward Ashburnham a sympathetic character or is he entirely a villain? If Edward is indeed sympathetic, in what instances can the reader view him sympathetically?

Essay Topic 2

What is the significance of the novel's title, The Good Soldier?

Essay Topic 3

Explore Ford's use of symbolism in The Good Soldier. In the essay, explain the significance of the following symbols:

1. The color blue.

2. The heart.

3. Leonora Ashburnham's bracelet.

(see the answer keys)

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