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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. At the end of the act, why does Algernon not want to see Cecily in the garden?

2. What vulgar people does Algernon suggest bandy about there business in cocktail parties?

3. Where does Cecily tell Algernon he is being sent?

4. As she copies Algernon's words into her diary, what does Cecily chastise him for doing?

5. What does Jack tell Algernon has happened to Bunbury?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. What is Cecily's response to Algernon's proposal to her?

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

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

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

7. What order does Jack give to Algernon after the women go in to lunch?

8. What does Cecily do to anger Gwendolen as they take tea?

9. When Algernon arrives under the guise Ernest, what does Cecily tell him about Jack's plans?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The Importance of Being Earnest wittily subverts certain respected establishments in English Victorian society. Write three body paragraphs about how Oscar Wilde uses his play to lampoon the following institutions:

Part 1) The Family and the Household

Part 2) Creditors and solicitors

Part 3) The Church

Essay Topic 2

The characters of The Importance of Being Earnest live in a society largely unchanged in a dynamic century. As such, they often make disparaging remarks about revolutions going on around them. Write an essay about their attitude toward change, using the text as a guide and dedicating a paragraph to each of the following:

1.) Socialism

2.) The French Revolution

3.) Women's Rights

Essay Topic 3

In the Importance of Being Earnest, certain objects play more central roles in driving action than characters. Write an essay dealing with the following three objects - a paragraph each - and how they affect the outcome of the play:

Part 1.) Algernon's bills

Part 2.) Cecily's diary

Part 3.) The handbag

(see the answer keys)

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