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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. As Pamela is supposedly on her way home from Mr. B's estate with the coachman, where does Mr. B arrange for them to make the first stop?

2. What does Mr. B first offer Pamela in fulfillment of his mother's wishes?

3. How does Mr. B react to Pamela after she responds to his proposition and the articles he proposed in it?

4. What incident that occurs in Section 2, does Mr. B ask Pamela to keep a secret?

5. Upon hearing the response of the gentry toward her plight, what does Pamela ask Mr. Williams to do to help her?

Short Essay Questions

1. What role does Mrs. Jervis play in the beginning of the story?

2. In Section 3 of the novel, how does Mr. B's increasing interference with Pamela reveal aspects of his character and create tension?

3. How does Pamela deal with the approaches made by Mr B and what is the result?

4. What important aspects of the plot are revealed through Pamela's first letter to her parents?

5. How does Mr. B intensify his advances toward Pamela after the argument at the party?

6. How does his proposal in Section 7 demonstrate Mr. B's character?

7. How is Mr. Williams' role in helping Pamela to escape brought to an end in Section 6?

8. As Pamela leaves for Lincolnshire what part do letters play in advancing the plot?

9. In Section 7, when Mr. B finally summons Pamela, what surprising development takes place?

10. What are the early indications that Mr. B is making inappropriate approaches to Pamela?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

"Pamela" is an exploration of important themes including "love and relationships", "wealth vs. poverty" and "the triumph of virtue over vice". Using specific examples, fully discuss the author's exploration of two of these themes in the novel.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the view that "Pamela" is a vehicle through which Samuel Richardson promotes the idea of virtue and the dangers of exposing innocent young women to worldly men.

Essay Topic 3

In referring to the potential impact of Pamela on readers, Richardson asserts "Let the desponding heart be comforted by the happy issue which the troubles and trials of PAMELA met with, when they see, in her case, that no danger nor distress, however inevitable, or deep to their apprehensions, can be out of the power of Providence to obviate or relieve." With special reference to this statement and using detailed references to the text, write a critical analysis of the purposes served by Pamela's trials in the novel.

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