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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. Why does Bromfield not think Tom will stick with the paint business long?
2. What business does Persis Lapham tell her husband she thinks Tom Corey will never go into?
3. What physical ailment has Irene developed in Chapter Six?
4. Which member of the Lapham family has been reading the novel Tom Corey sees on the Lapham parlor table?
5. Which of the following statements does not appear in the description of Silas Lapham that Bartley Hubbard writes for his newspaper article?
Short Essay Questions
1. What do Tom Corey and his father find unusual about the beverages the Laphams drink and Mrs. Lapham's social entertaining?
2. 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?
3. Why do the Coreys consider themselves "better" than the Laphams, and what virtues does Silas Lapham possess that the Coreys do not?
4. What different opinions do Silas and Persis Lapham have in Chapter Seven for why Tom Corey visits them?
5. Why are the Laphams considered deficient in social graces?
6. Why does Bartley Hubbard interview Silas Lapham, and what differing views of success do Hubbard and Lapham have?
7. Describe Lapham's financial situation in Chapter Nine.
8. Describe the Laphams' first meeting with the Corey family.
9. What is Anna Corey's reaction to her son's decision to go into the mineral paint business?
10. What arguments does Anna Corey give her husband for opposing their son's marriage to Silas Lapham's daughter?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Discuss the mistaken romance of Irene and Tom Corey. What factors make Irene think Tom is interested in her? What factors make the Coreys and Laphams think Tom is interested in Irene? What factors indicate Tom is really interested in Penelope? Cite examples from the text to support your arguments.
Essay Topic 2
The Rise of Silas Lapham contains a number of instances of irony. Cite three examples of irony in the novel and discuss what you think the author intends to convey with each example.
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 1,093 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) |
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