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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 season is the animal is seen creeping among the vegetation in Part III, The Fire Sermon?

2. How many times is the word, ‘Twit’ repeated in succession in Part III, The Fire Sermon?

3. How does the narrator describe Phlebas when he was alive?

4. What instrument does the narrator hear while walking along Lower Thames Street?

5. What sweats out of the river in Part III, The Fire Sermon?

Short Essay Questions

1. In The Fire Sermon, what does Richmond, promise and how does the narrator respond to this?

2. Who is Phlebas in Death by Water?

3. What is the significance of the title Death by Water?

4. How is Tiresias described in The Fire Sermon?

5. What is the significance of the title of The Fire Sermon?

6. Why are Elizabeth and Leicester mentioned in The Fire Sermon, what?

7. What does Tiresias witness in The Fire Sermon?

8. How does The Fire Sermon end, and what does it mean?

9. Why is Mr. Eugenides included in The Fire Sermon?

10. What is the main idea of the last section of Death by Water?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Eliot presents the idea that lust and passion are mostly negative things. How does he make this point?

Essay Topic 2

The pursuit of happiness is a common theme found in this poem. What parts of the poem embody this theme, and how does the pursuit of happiness affect the characters involved?

Essay Topic 3

The figure of Philomel is included in many sections of this poem. Who is she and why is she included in this poem?

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