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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 is in Dover?

2. What concern does Widow Wadham express about Toby Shandy in Volume 8?

3. Who attempts to tell the story of the King of Bohemia?

4. What reaction does Walter Shandy have to Bobby's death?

5. Who plans on spying on Toby through a keyhole?

Short Essay Questions

1. What difficulty does Tristram encounter in Lyon?

2. What are the "beds of justice"?

3. What might Tristram mean when he describes romance as, "It is with love as with cuck-oldom"?

4. How does Toby react to the end of the war?

5. What position does Toby recommend Billy Le Fever assume in the Shandy household?

6. How does communication among the characters disintegrate in Volume 8?

7. Why does Tristram's mother eavesdrop on Walter and Toby's conversation in Volume 5?

8. Why does Tristram decide to travel abroad in Volume 7?

9. What could Bobby's death symbolize to Tristram?

10. What inconsistencies exist in Tristram's friendship with Eugenuis?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Compare and contrast Sterne's Yorick with Shakespeare's Yorick. How are both characters tragic? What role does Sterne's Yorick play in Tristram's life compared to the role Shakespeare's Yorick plays in Hamlet's life? Why might Sterne have chosen Yorick to deliver the last line of the novel?

Essay Topic 2

Describe the symbolism evident in the novel. What is the significance of Bobby's death and Tristram's journey through France? How are symbols or symbolic imagery used to advance the plot?

Essay Topic 3

How are philosophies expressed in the novel? Describe the purpose Sterne may have had for Walter Shandy's philosophical ramblings. What philosophies does Tristram express and how do these ideas affect the action of the novel?

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