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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 member of the Corey family does Silas Lapham tell Persis he wants to meet?
2. While conversing with his mother in Chapter Eight, what does Tom Corey tell his mother about Penelope Lapham?
3. What subject does Tom avoid while talking with his mother in Chapter Eight?
4. What physical ailment has Irene developed in Chapter Six?
5. What does Anna Corey think of the Lapham family borrowing books from the public library?
Short Essay Questions
1. How has Persis Lapham supported her husband and his business over the years and how does Lapham honor her for her support?
2. What indication is there in Chapter Ten that Tom Corey might prefer Penelope Lapham over her sister Irene?
3. What is Lapham's childhood and family background, and how does this background shape his values?
4. What is Anna Corey's reaction to her son's decision to go into the mineral paint business?
5. What different opinions do Silas and Persis Lapham have in Chapter Seven for why Tom Corey visits them?
6. What aspect of Tom Corey's life does Silas Lapham disapprove of, and what action does Lapham think it would take to improve Corey?
7. Why are the Laphams considered deficient in social graces?
8. When Tom Corey comes to their new home's construction site, why do the Laphams leave him alone with Irene?
9. How does Tom Corey describe the Lapham family to his mother?
10. Describe how Silas Lapham gets into the paint business.
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Compare and contrast the characters of Persis Lapham, Anna Corey, and Moll Millon. Include a discussion of their role as mothers and their influence on their children's lives. Cite examples from the text to support your arguments.
Essay Topic 2
Discuss the symbolism of the Lapham family's three homes: 1) the ancestral farm in Vermont, 2) the unfashionable home on Nankeen square, and 3) the construction and destruction of the new, expensive and more fashionable home in Back Bay. What do you think each home represents about Silas Lapham and/or his family? Which class or segment of American society do you think each home represents? What theme do you think William Dean Howells is conveying through the symbolism of these three homes? 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 1,050 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) |
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