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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. With which of the following does Gideon speak when trying to find his uncle’s dwellings?

2. Of what wood is the walking stick used by Cutter’s landlady?

3. From which language does Gideon note “salient” derives?

4. What sergeant do Cutter and Gideon encounter at the church where Gideon spent his first night in London?

5. Where does the maker of Strythe’s vials live?

Short Essay Questions

1. For what reasons is Gideon anxious to meet with his uncle in his dwellings?

2. How is Gideon turned out of the church where he spends his first night in London?

3. How does Octavia’s editor initially attempt to alter his agreement with her?

4. What does Carew observe Strythe means to offer up for a charity auction?

5. When he takes her out on a walk, how does Gideon offend Angela?

6. Why does Esther Tull worry about the cleanliness of her stitches in Strythe’s workroom?

7. How does George unsettle the police sergeant with whom he converses as he works to help Octavia find information?

8. Generally, how is the church described in which Gideon spends his first night in London?

9. What lunch does Octavia prepare for herself after her fruitless pursuit of information about Strythe and his travels?

10. What explanation is given for calling Gideon’s uncle “Old Nelly” (31)?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In the novel, some characters are given but one name, while others are given first- and surnames, and still others are accorded names and titles. What significance, if any, accrues to patterns of naming in the novel? If no significance accrues, what purpose might be served by the patterns of naming in the novel? How does the novel bear as much out?

Essay Topic 2

What attitude does the novel display towards romantic love? What in the novel effects that display, and how does it do so?

Essay Topic 3

Overall, what is the most important theme of The House on Vesper Sands. What in the text indicates as much? How does it do so?

(see the answer keys)

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