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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 does Mr. Garth receive in the mail?

2. What is Bulstrode's occupation?

3. Who asks Bulstrode to try to convince Lydgate not to marry Rosamond?

4. What does Mr. Vincy want Bulstrode to do?

5. Farebrother reveals that Fred plans to study to become what?

Short Essay Questions

1. Summarize Lydgate's background.

2. Casaubon admits to himself that he chose to marry Dorothea for what reasons?

3. Why does Mrs. Vincy encourage Rosamond to go to Stone Court more often?

4. How is Dorothea when she returns from her honeymoon?

5. What are the objections that the men of Middlemarch express about the way Lydgate practices medicine?

6. Describe how Dorothea, Mr. Brooke, and Celia, respectively, feel about Dorothea's engagement to Casaubon.

7. How do Mr. Brooke and Casaubon feel about Ladislaw in Chapter 37?

8. What causes Rosamond to wonder if she should be jealous of Lydgate's meeting with Dorothea?

9. What are the gossiping women of Middlemarch saying about Rosamond in Chapter 31?

10. What do Dorothea and Will talk about during Will's visit?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Imagine if the characters of "Middlemarch" lived today. Choose one character. How would their life be different? What place in society would they occupy? Do you think their story would have ended differently? Why or why not? Be sure to cite specific examples from the text to support your thesis.

Essay Topic 2

One of the turning points in the novel is when Rosamond loses her baby. Lydgate blames the riding accident but she believes it would have happened anyway. What statement is the author making in regard to Rosamond's rebellion against her husband? Do you think Rosamond really believes that the miscarriage would have happened without the accident, or is she simply trying to assuage her guilt? Be sure to cite specific examples from the text to support your thesis.

Essay Topic 3

The Reform Bill played a major role in the political environment of Middlemarch. Why was it so important to these small-town politicians? How would it have changed life for them? What were the reasons for these politicians to endorse or oppose it? Be sure to cite specific examples from the text to support your thesis.

(see the answer keys)

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