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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. Who is referred to in the book as "the poet-dandy's poet-dandy" (54)?

2. What Belgian poet said of Jean Lorrain, he "loved his age to the point of detestation" (68)?

3. What did the count, the prince, and the doctor hear at Crystal Palace at the Handel Festival?

4. Who was put on trial for having translated Emile Zola's La Terre to English?

5. When did Montesquiou and Polignac meet?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who was James Abbott McNeill Whistler?

2. What is known about Montesquiou's sexual exploits, according to the author?

3. What caused the initial problems between Dr. Pozzi and his wife?

4. Who was Edmond de Goncourt?

5. Why was Oscar Wilde put on trial? What was the outcome?

6. What does Des Esseintes tortoise symbolize?

7. What is a duel? What is its history?

8. What is the novel A Rebours about?

9. What literary device does the author reference and explain in the opening of the narrative?

10. What does Listerism refer to?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the political atmosphere of the Belle Époque. What was the political atmosphere like in England? What was it like in France? What was it like in the U.S.? How would the perceptions of these countries change following the Belle Époque?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the motif of literature in the Man in the Red Coat. Who are some of the most notable authors of the Belle Époque that are discussed in the book? What did they write? What literary styles emerged during this time period?

Essay Topic 3

Describe and discuss the life of Count Robert de Montesquiou-Fezensac. When and where was he born? How is his family described? What was he best known for during his lifetime?

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This section contains 693 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample