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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. How is Guru Brahmin produced?

2. What does Mr. Slump do incessantly?

3. How is Mr. Slump's appearance?

4. Where is Mr. Slump when Aimée talks to him on the phone?

5. Why are the other cosmeticians jealous of Aimée?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why has Aimée written a local newspaper columnist and what does he reply to her?

2. What is different between Aimée's first engagement compared to that of the one to Mr. Lovejoy?

3. Why is Mr. Joyboy fearful and what does Dennis realize Mr. Joyboy wants?

4. Who arrives when Dennis is training his replacement at Happier Hunting Grounds, and what does Dennis do with his trainee?

5. What does Dennis learn from Erroll Bartholomew?

6. Describe Aimée's date with Mr. Joyboy to meet his mother.

7. What does Mr. Slump not know at the moment and how does he react to another letter from Aimée?

8. How does Aimée react to the latest love poem from Dennis, and what does she not realize about the poem?

9. What does Aimée say in her most recent letter Guru Brahmin?

10. What does Mr. Slump say about women regarding men?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Many novels, and perhaps a majority, of novels ends on a happy note. Discuss the following:

1. Why do you think many (most?) people want what they perceive as a happy or good ending to a novel? Explain your opinion. Do you? Why or why not?

2. The Loved One does not end on a happy note. Discuss, in depth, how do you think this type of ending affects a reader's overall satisfaction with the book?

3. What are three reasons to read fiction? Discuss each one in light of The Loved One and whether or not it fulfills all three, two or one of the reasons you mention. Give examples as to why The Loved One is or is not successful in fulfilling the reasons you discuss.

4. Do you think reading solely for entertainment is as good a reason to read as any other? Why or why not? Can any work of fiction or non-fiction, no matter how poorly written, enlighten, teach, stimulate thought? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

Dennis reminds Aimee that she pledged her troth to him, and she is again thrown into a quandary. Her sense of honor will not allow her to go back on her word, and Dennis refuses to release her from the promise. Still, she knows that she could never marry him now, not only because of the hoax concerning the poems but because she considers his job to be beneath her dignity.

Dennis tries to wiggle out of his predicament by stressing a detail, which is that he never actually said the poems were written by him, and he is quite surprised to see that what works is the promise she made to him at the Lovers' Nook. Dennis is so removed from considerations of honor that he could not even conceive that Aimée's pledge would hold her. Indeed, his interest in the marriage increasingly looks like a game he wants to win, simply because winning is good. When a distraught Aimée telephones Mr. Joyboy, she gets exactly what she would have expected, had she been a more insightful person. He is busy with his mother, and it is not convenient for him to see her, even though he can tell that a visit from him is important to her.

1. Do you think Aimee's sense of honor is a positive or negative value? Why? Use examples from The Loved One and your own life to support your answer.

2. Discuss, in depth, what type of person Dennis must be to hold a woman to a pledge of marriage when she wants out and to look upon making her marry him as a game. Use examples from The Loved One and your own life to support your answer.

3. What should Aimee figure out from Mr. Joyboy putting his mother before her? What do you think Aimee should do about Mr. Joyboy and Dennis? Why do you think she does what she did? Use examples from The Loved One and your own life to support your answer.

Essay Topic 3

Characters are an integral and important part of almost all novels. Discuss the following:

1. Compare/contrast the characters of Mr. Joyboy and Dennis. How are they similar? How are they different? Is there a flaw in each of their personalities? Be specific and give examples.

2. Compare/contrast the characters of Aimee and Dennis. How do they seem different? Which do you like more? Why? Which one seems more of a well-rounded character?

3. Thoroughly analyze how three of the secondary characters in The Loved One help drive the plot and what their contribution is to the storyline. Are any of the secondary characters unnecessary? Indispensable? Which of the secondary characters are likable? Which are either unlikable or even despicable? Be specific and give examples.

(see the answer keys)

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