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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. Which of the following statements is not a way Tom Corey describes Silas Lapham to his father?
2. In Chapter Two, who sends Persis Lapham a lithographed circular soliciting for donations to a charity?
3. What business does Persis Lapham tell her husband she thinks Tom Corey will never go into?
4. What business idea does Tom Corey first propose to Silas Lapham in Chapter Six?
5. Which of the following statements does not describe Irene Lapham?
Short Essay Questions
1. How does Tom Corey describe the Lapham family to his mother?
2. Which Lapham sister does Tom Corey talk about when he visits the Laphams and which one does he not talk about, and what do his conversational tendencies indicate?
3. When Tom Corey comes to their new home's construction site, why do the Laphams leave him alone with Irene?
4. How has Persis Lapham supported her husband and his business over the years and how does Lapham honor her for her support?
5. What kind of girl does Bromfield Corey think his son Tom should marry, and how do the Lapham girls compare to Bromfield's ideal daughter-in-law?
6. How does Silas Lapham feel about having Tom Corey work for him, and how does he feel about Tom's work?
7. How does Penelope react to Tom Corey's visits in Chapter Eleven, and what does her behavior indicate?
8. What aspect of Tom Corey's life does Silas Lapham disapprove of, and what action does Lapham think it would take to improve Corey?
9. Why does Bartley Hubbard interview Silas Lapham, and what differing views of success do Hubbard and Lapham have?
10. Why are the Laphams considered deficient in social graces?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Compare and contrast the characters of Irene Lapham and Penelope Lapham in The Rise of Silas Lapham. Does either sister ever act in atypical ways for a woman of her social class and era? Which characteristics do you think make Penelope more attractive to Tom Corey, and which characteristics do you think make Irene less attractive to Tom Corey? Cite examples from the text to support your arguments.
Essay Topic 2
Discuss the themes of self help and self sufficiency in The Rise of Silas Lapham. Which character or characters illustrate these themes? What does the author seem to be saying about these themes in the novel? Cite examples from the text to support your arguments.
Essay Topic 3
The Rise of Silas Lapham takes place in Boston in the 1880s, during America's Gilded Age, and is the story of a self-made family's attempt to enter Boston's Brahmin society. The characters live through the Civil War and see the rise of enormous industry and enormous wealth in the post-war era. Discuss how the cultural, geographical, and chronological settings affect the story and how the characters and story might differ if William Dean Howells had set the novel in England during the 1680s or in Los Angeles during the 1980s instead. Cite examples from the text to support your arguments.
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This section contains 1,096 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) |
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