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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why does the main character refuse the fiancee's offer?
(a) He cannot support her mother as well as her.
(b) She is anxious to leave her job.
(c) She likes being close to the upper class.
(d) It would not be respectable to move to his neighborhood.

2. What disappointing news does the main character find out about Captain Everard?
(a) He has many mistresses.
(b) He is heavily in debt.
(c) He is generally regarded as a scoundrel.
(d) He is dying of tuberculosis.

3. What inducement does the fiancee offer the main character?
(a) Undying affection.
(b) Savings on rent.
(c) A more luxurious lifestyle.
(d) Help with her housework.

4. How does James characterize Lady Bradeen?
(a) Savvy and manipulative.
(b) Elegant and beautiful.
(c) Mousy and fragile.
(d) Intimidating and smart.

5. How does James characterize the main character's feelings for her fiancee?
(a) Chilly.
(b) Lukewarm.
(c) Indifferent.
(d) Passionate.

6. What is Dencombe's reaction to the package he has just received?
(a) He is furious.
(b) He is thrilled.
(c) He is bored.
(d) He is grateful.

7. What does John Marcher realize he should have done?
(a) Fallen in love with May Bartram.
(b) Let May Bartram teach him about philanthropy.
(c) Moved in with May Bartram.
(d) Taken May Bartram for a mistress.

8. What is the young man, whom Dencombe sees approaching, doing?
(a) Reading a letter.
(b) Discoursing to the young girl.
(c) Reading a critical review of his book.
(d) Reading one of his books.

9. How does Spencer Brydon encounter the city he moves to at the beginning of 'Jolly Corner'?
(a) He is fascinated by how it has not changed.
(b) He is repulsed by it.
(c) He is appalled by the changes.
(d) He finds it charming.

10. What is clear to the reader and to Captain Everard, but not to the main character?
(a) Captain Everard is getting bored with Lady Bradeen.
(b) Captain Everard is fascinated with the main character.
(c) Captain Everard does not return her affection.
(d) Lady Bradeen's husband is finding out about his wife's affair.

11. What distracts Dencombe from his meditation on his own future?
(a) Three people walking up the path.
(b) He watches people milling about on the lawn below him.
(c) He picks up his book.
(d) He watches the birds in the trees.

12. What does the main character do to help Lady Bradeen?
(a) Saves her money.
(b) Corrects an error in her telegram.
(c) Protects her reputation.
(d) Warns her about her husband's visit.

13. What is John Marcher there to see?
(a) Society women.
(b) Wild animals.
(c) His lover.
(d) Antiques and artistic treasures.

14. What does Dencombe expect when he opens the package he has received?
(a) To see the flaws in his book.
(b) To be proud of his book.
(c) To find that the check was for less than he expected.
(d) To get a dire diagnosis for his health.

15. What does Eve Sedgwick suggest was John Marcher's real secret?
(a) His death.
(b) His bankruptcy.
(c) His homosexuality.
(d) His pathological fears.

Short Answer Questions

1. What quality does a premise have to have in order to be suitable for a novel, in James' opinion?

2. How do the editors characterize James' view on short stories?

3. What was the content of the thing John Marcher told May Bartram?

4. What happens to Lady Bradeen's husband after he discovers his wife's affair?

5. James' critical language come from ___________.

(see the answer keys)

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