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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 was the tragedy of the three shots fired named by the papers?

2. Merrett's killer was from ______________.

3. Who heard the three shots fired in the beginning of the book?

4. Who killed Merrett?

5. How many slips of paper came in from volunteers who wanted to add to the newly proposed dictionary?

Short Essay Questions

1. How might the fact that the killer was of a learned professional background NOT have been surprising to readers?

2. What might the audience find unique about the killer's professional past?

3. How did Minor's branding of a deserting Irish soldier become connected to his excessive guilt about his own perceived "wrongs"?

4. What does the title of the book imply to prospective readers?

5. Why does the author take time to note the sheer volume of words and weight of the Oxford English Dictionary? What parallels can be drawn between this and the dictionary's makers?

6. What aspects of the Latin-English dictionaries provided impetus for the makers of the Oxford English Dictionary to make their own English dictionary?

7. Why does the author suggest Oxford finally conceded to the switch from Furnivall to Murray for the position of editor?

8. In regards to Trench's speech, what did he view each word as having? What must be charted for each word?

9. In what ways does the author state the compilation of the Dictionary of the English Language was different from the compilation of the Oxford English Dictionary?

10. What can be surmised about the author's intention by naming his first chapter, " The Dead of Night in Lambeth Marsh"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Dramatic irony is in many ways a key element of the events of the text. Discuss with examples.

Essay Topic 2

Much of Chapter 3, The Madness of War, is taken up with Charles Minor's exploits around and during wartime. From this chapter, how do you think the author feels about war? Give examples to back up your answer.

Essay Topic 3

Does the author associate much stigma with mental illness in the text? Give examples in your answer and explore what effects, in the author's view, mental illness might have had on the production of The Oxford English Dictionary.

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