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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 gift does Richard buy for Alec?

2. How does swordfighting change how Michael feels about himself?

3. Who does Michael believe the Duchess is having an affair with?

4. What do Alec and Richard laugh at, about Lord Horn's letter?

5. What does Basil say he considers Lord Ferris to be?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is it ill-advised for Lord Horn to send the letter he sends to Richard?

2. What does Richard say after he kills Brent?

3. What does Richard St. Vier give his landlady when he first sees her in the novel, and why?

4. Why is the idea of becoming a swordsman a joke for Michael?

5. Who do Richard and Alec meet as they watch the party, and what does this person tell Richard?

6. Why does Michael originally decide that he will sleep with Lord Horn?

7. Describe the job that Richard is approached with in Chapter 8.

8. Why doesn't it matter what Michael is wearing at the Duchess's party?

9. Describe what Michael overhears between Michael's casual male lover and the woman Michael has just slept with.

10. What is Alec's advice to Richard about the job Richard has been offered?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The nobility in the novel is very concerned with appearances and fashion. Discuss the role of appearances and fashion in the novel.

1) How is the nobility obsessed with appearance? How does appearance affect social status?

2) Why doe Richard get a new suit to go to the theater? What is his perception of this suit, and what role does it play in the culture he is moving in?

3) What does the nobility's obsession with appearance and fashion say about their values?

Essay Topic 2

When Michael first meets Basil, he sees Basil as more manly. Discuss manliness in the novel.

1) In what ways does Michael become more manly over the course of the novel? Why? What does this say about the idea of manliness?

2) How is Basil manly? What does this say about his character?

3) How is Richard manly? What qualities of manliness does he have, and how do these qualities compare or contrast with Basil?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss power and corruption in the novel?

1) Who among the nobility has power? How do the nobles gain, keep, and use their power?

2) Lord Horn and Lord Ferris are corrupt. How does their corruption affect how they use their power? What corrupts them? How are they different from Lord Basil?

3) Who among the lower classes has power? How do the lower-class gain, keep, and use their power?

(see the answer keys)

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