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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. How does Mrs. Tulliver hope that her sisters help the family recover from bankruptcy?

2. What does Mr. Tulliver force Tom to write on his own behalf in the Bible?

3. Why does Maggie get angry with her aunts and uncles?

4. How does Tom react to his father's accident?

5. How does Mr. Tulliver react to Mrs. Pullet's plan to mediate on his behalf with Mrs. Glegg?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is Mrs. Tulliver so upset when Tom and Maggie arrive at home?

2. Why does Maggie not choose to stay with the gypsies once she finds them?

3. How does Philip put Tom's mind at ease after the accident?

4. Do you think that Mr. and Mrs. Tulliver get along very well? Why or why not?

5. What does Maggie think of Philip when she first meets him?

6. How does Mrs. Moss cause Mr. Tulliver to soften and become milder in his feelings toward her family?

7. Why do you think that Tom says he does not trust Maggie when it comes to Philip Wakem? Why does Maggie say that his lack of trust is unfair?

8. The day that Tom comes home from school for the first time, what events occur that foreshadow the flood at the end of the book?

9. How does Maggie feel when Philip declares his love for her?

10. Using the descriptions provided by their parents (Mr. and Mrs. Tulliver), compare and contrast the characters of Tom and Maggie.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Analyze the motif of flooding in the novel. How do the early references to flooding foreshadow the flood at the end of the book? Do the references to floods refer to something other than physical floods? Is there a connection between flooding in The Mill on the Floss and the emotional transformations of the characters from the start of the book to the end? Why or why not? Support your answer with details from the book.

Essay Topic 2

Critics point out that George Eliot is much like Maggie Tulliver, except that George Eliot's life is far more scandalous. She has a close relationship with her father, and also has an older brother who is somewhat protective of her. George Eliot becomes involved, outside of marriage, with John Chapman, a London publisher and bookseller who already has a wife and a mistress. Later, she opts to live with George Henry Lewes, openly, because Lewes is still married, although Lewes' wife runs away to be with her lover. Eliot knows that she is criticized publicly for this decision. She also knows that if Lewes dies, she is left alone and does not inherit his property. Still, she lives with Lewes until the day he dies. She is ostracized by some people, including her own family.

Compare the life of Maggie Tulliver to the life of George Eliot. How are they similar? How are they different? Does Eliot intend for The Mill on the Floss to be a defense of her own behavior? You may wish to offer an opinion on this question. Be sure that you back up your opinion with facts from The Mill on the Floss and from the life of George Eliot.

Essay Topic 3

Why does Maggie find the ascetic life described by Thomas a Kempis to be so appealing in the years after her family goes bankrupt? Philip Wakem says that she is not really compelled by the ascetic ideal, but that she is stupefying herself into accepting it. Do you think he is correct? Compare the words of Thomas a Kempis with the life that Maggie already is living. Is there a parallel? Why or why not?

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