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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 novel does Forster say has a sense of space?

2. What subject do the excerpts of H.G. Wells and Charles Dickens that Forster compares in the Introduction both describe?

3. A novel that does not include an aspect of time is _____________.

4. Works that deal with real people are called what?

5. To be a true critic of literature, one must do what?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Forster look at in terms of characters in the second section on People?

2. Why, in Forster's opinion, is Sir Walter Scott a popular novelist?

3. What does Forster mean by a "sense of space" in War and Peace?

4. What are the guidelines William George Clark requests for the lecture series he began at Trinity College?

5. How does Forster say that Scheherazade avoids her fate?

6. What does Forster consider to be the strangest of the five basic elements of life?

7. What is striking about the funerals described in the excerpts by H.G. Wells and Charles Dickens?

8. What two things does Forster say daily life is comprised of?

9. How does Forster describe the point of view in the novel Bleak House by Charles Dickens?

10. Why does Forster believe an Austen novel is more complicated than a Defoe novel?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

As Forster discusses Wuthering Heights, his lecture reaches a higher point of emotion. How does his tone parallel that of the Emily Bronte novel? Does his lecture on prophecy border on obsession?

Essay Topic 2

What does Forster contend is the important difference between real people and people in novels? Why is this an important distinction? Using research on Forster himself, what is the irony of his discussion of the importance of real people keeping their secrets?

Essay Topic 3

How does Forster tie in his main theme that the purpose of novels is to allow the reader a deeper, broader understanding of life with his discussion of the People aspect of the novel?

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