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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 is the city situated geographically?

2. Where do notices about the disease appear?

3. Who volunteers to help Rieux?

4. Why does Rieux ask Tarrou to do this?

5. Who is Jean Tarrou?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Part 2 Chapter 3, what measure is taken by the town leaders?

2. When does the Prefect finally take action?

3. What do you think is interesting about Grand?

4. Who is Joseph Grand?

5. What literary device does Camus use in Chapter 5 to accentuate meaning?

6. Who is Jean Tarrou?

7. How does the heatwave further discourage the citizens of Oran?

8. Why have telegrams become the main means of contact ordinary people now have with the outside world?

9. In what way do you think Tarrou and Rieux are of like mind?

10. In what era is the story set?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

After the death of M. Othon's little boy, the men who have tried to save him are devastated and undergo a change. Choose two of the characters present at the boy's death. Describe the way the characters react at the time. In what ways are they different for the rest of the novel?

Essay Topic 2

Weather conditions in Oran are frequently described at important points in the novel. Examine the ways three of these are connected emotionally or thematically with the action and/or characters in the novel.

Essay Topic 3

'Camus' novel The Plague shows us a hero who isn't exactly heroic.' Do you agree or disagree? What is the conventional idea of 'the hero' and does Dr. Rieux fit in with that idea? Discuss the kinds of heroism depicted in the novel.

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