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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 type of woman does Monsieur Crevel confess to Lisbeth that he has never had until his relationship with Valerie?

2. What significant change to his appearance does Valerie induce Baron Hulot to make?

3. Besides leading Wenceslas astray, for what other family disgrace is Baron Hulot responsible?

4. Where does Bette convince Wenceslas to go despite Hortense forbidding him from doing so?

5. How does Hortense react upon learning that Wenceslas has lied to her about his whereabouts?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Valerie use her pregnancy to benefit financially and socially? Which men are affected by this news?

2. What problem with her husband does Valerie alert Hector to in a letter? What solution does she suggest to this predicament? How does Hector respond to this suggestion?

3. Besides the news of the embezzlement scheme in the newspaper, what other news item is featured in the Revue des Beaux-Arts? What is Hortense's reaction to this item?

4. After their initial clandestine meetings, what message does Hector receive in the form of a letter from Valerie? What reason does she give for a change of plans? What is the real reason?

5. What does the regimental quartermaster from Algeria bring to Hector? What was he expecting the quartermaster to have brought him?

6. Who interrupts Valerie and Hector during their clandestine meeting in Crevel's love nest? By whom is this character accompanied? What does this character tell the Baron about Valerie Marneffe and her husband?

7. What news is in the letter to Wenceslas from Valerie? What plan does she concoct for the interception of the letter and why?

8. What has happened to Wenceslas professionally in the three years since he has married Hortense? To what is this change attributed?

9. When he returns home after speaking to Valerie about the impossibility of Marneffe's promotion, what does Hector catch Adeline doing? With what intention did he return to his family that evening?

10. In whom does Hector confide his devastation about Valerie? What is this character's response?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is the significance of social class in Cousin Bette? How does this theme affect the relationship between the characters and advance the plot of the novel? Use specific examples from the text to support your answer.

Essay Topic 2

Throughout the novel, the author uses several objects for symbolic purposes. Choose two examples of symbols from the text and discuss their significance. How do these symbols relate to the themes and message of Cousin Bette?

Essay Topic 3

What is the relationship between Lisbeth and Valerie Marneffe? Using three examples from the novel, explain how Valerie and Lisbeth's relationship developed over time. Do the two women really care for one another or are they united by malice and spite only? Give details from the text to support your answer.

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