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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 ailment does Cecily claim Miss prism has?

2. How many counties can one see from the hills of around the manor?

3. Next to whose room does Merriman place Algernon's luggage?

4. Immediately after proposing to Cecily, who does Algernon seek out?

5. Upon finding out the Cecily is Mr. Worthing's ward, how old does Gwendolen wish Cecily was?

Short Essay Questions

1. What favor does Jack request of Chasuble?

2. What news does Jack bring with him when he returns home from London.

3. How does Algernon end up paying for Jack's debt in Act II?

4. What reason does Miss Prism give for not wanting Ernest to be saved from his vices?

5. What argument does Jack make to Algernon about eating in times of despair, and why at the end of Act II?

6. What reason does Cecily give for not wanting to show Algernon her diary?

7. After the two women storm off, what is Algernon's attitude?

8. Why does Gwendolen state that she wishes Cecily were older?

9. What changes in Ernest's behavior does Algernon announce when he arrives at Jack's country house?

10. How does Algernon get rid of Miss Prism when he wants say goodbye to Cecily?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Choose one of the following to write about:

1.) What do you think is Oscar Wilde's opinion of the English upper class? Do you consider his portraits of landed English gentry is loving or caustic? Cite examples from the text.

2.) Compare, in three paragraphs, three servant characters and three aristocrats in the play. Which are the more clever and worldly? How much do the upper class characters rely on the servants?

3.) Do you think there is greater personal freedom in being part of the servant class in the Victorian era or being in the Upper class. Cite examples from the text and historical background to justify your stance.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay, focusing on Lady Bracknell's standards for a suitor. Cite three examples of her requirements, and defend her insistence on them. How do Lady Bracknell's concerns reflect the lack of options open to Victorian women.

Essay Topic 3

Do you believe that Lady Bracknell's constant fretting about Gwendolen's inauspicious betrothal, the state of over-education, and comment on train platforms (to name a few examples) indicates an implicit fear of devaluation of high society in England? Write an essay with your position, using statements about the role of the upper class to support your claim.

(see the answer keys)

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