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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 is Silas Lapham's response when Persis asks him who Mrs. M is?
2. What does Silas Lapham decide to shut down in Chapter Twenty Three?
3. How does Anna Corey describe Penelope Lapham to Bromfield Corey?
4. How do Bromfield and Anna Corey respond to the news about Tom's romance?
5. Who tells Tom Corey of Silas Lapham's potential financial ruin?
Short Essay Questions
1. Which member of the Lapham family does not attend the Corey dinner party and what different reactions do Anna Corey and Persis Lapham have to the absence?
2. Describe Silas Lapham's interactions with Zerrilla Dewey and her mother, Moll Millon, in Chapter Twenty Three.
3. What bad news does Walker the bookkeeper deliver to Silas Lapham about Lapham's paint company in Chapter Twenty One?
4. What opinion does Anna Corey form of Penelope Lapham during her visit with Persis and Penelope?
5. What opinion does Penelope Lapham give Tom Corey about the novel Tears, Idle Tears?
6. What is Persis Lapham's reaction to Tom Corey's revelation when Penelope shares it with her?
7. Describe Silas Lapham's financial status at the end of Chapter Twenty One and how it compares to his financial status at the beginning of the novel?
8. What destroys Silas Lapham's new house and how does that situation add to Lapham's financial woes?
9. How do the Laphams react to the dinner invitation from the aristocratic Coreys?
10. Where does Irene go after learning the truth about Tom Corey's feelings for her, and what do her letters indicate about her activities there?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
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 2
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.
Essay Topic 3
Discuss the theme of self sacrifice in The Rise of Silas Lapham. Cite examples from the text to support your arguments.
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This section contains 1,053 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) |
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