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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. Just before John Dowell comes to visit the Ashburnhams, Leonora Ashburnham bursts into Nancy Rufford's room and insists that Nancy do which of the following:

2. After Captain Edward Ashburnham dies, where does John Dowell take up residence?

3. In Part 4, Chapter 5, Captain Edward Ashburnham gives a woman a large sum of money. Why does he give the woman money?

4. At school, what does Nancy repeatedly do?

5. What does Miss Emily Hurlbird think John Dowell should do with the money he inherits from John Hurlbird's death?

Short Essay Questions

1. Do you think Nancy is a good judge of character?

2. Given Captain Edward Ashburnham's adulterous history, why does Leonora Ashburnham send Edward and Nancy to a concert together?

3. What must Nancy reject in order to make her decision to meet her mother in Glasgow?

4. Of all the characters presented thus far in the book, who is the most right-minded?

5. Of what significance is the discovery that John Hurlbird's heart disease was a misdiagnosis?

6. Leonora accepts many of Captain Edward Ashburnham's affairs; however, Leonora does not accept Edward's affair with Florence Dowell. Why does Leonora especially disapprove of Edward's affair with Florence Dowell?

7. In Part 4, Chapter 5, John Dowell claims that he is jealous of Leonora Ashburnham. What reason does John have for being jealous of Leonora?

8. Why does John Dowell continually excuse Captain Edward Ashburnham from the reader's judgment?

9. Describe the fight that takes place in Part 4, Chapter 2, between Leonora Ashburnham, Nancy Rufford, and Captain Edward Ashburnham?

10. Why does John Dowell dislike Rodney Bayham?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What message does The Good Soldier send about the institution of marriage? Does the novel present a positive, negative, or indifferent view of marriage? Does Ford aim to leave the reader believing, like John Dowell, that marriage is a rotten apple and a prison?

Essay Topic 2

Compare and contrast The Good Soldier's two male main characters, Edward Ashburnham and John Dowell. Are either of these characters more of a "man" than the other? Of these two characters, who does Ford seem to sympathize with the most? What qualities make either of these characters more sympathetic than the other? If Ford does indeed elevate John over Edward, or vice versa , what does his preference imply about the overall message of the novel?

Essay Topic 3

What is the overall message behind The Good Soldier?

(see the answer keys)

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