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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. When did Paul Pozzi marry Miriam Ashcroft?

2. How was Samuel Pozzi injured in the Franco-Prussian War?

3. Who is referred to in the book as "the poet-dandy's poet-dandy" (54)?

4. When did Leconte de Lisle die?

5. Who wrote the play Love is the Best Medicine?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is a duel? What is its history?

2. From where do the portraits of a number of celebrities in the book arise?

3. What is an aesthete?

4. What painting inspired the author to write this book? Why?

5. Who was Gabriel Yturri?

6. Who was Jean Lorrain?

7. What does a dandy refer to?

8. How does the author compare the sexual perspectives of those from England and those from France in the late nineteenth century?

9. Give a brief bio of Dr. Pozzi. When was he born? When did he die? What was his profession?

10. What literary device does the author reference and explain in the opening of the narrative?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the political atmosphere of the Belle Époque. What was the political atmosphere like in England? What was it like in France? What was it like in the U.S.? How would the perceptions of these countries change following the Belle Époque?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the theme of sexuality in The Man in the Red Coat. What individuals in this biography are described as likely homosexual? Why? How was homosexuality perceived at this time? What laws banned homosexual acts and how frequently were they invoked?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the figure of Oscar Wilde. Why does the author focus on Wilde in sections of the book? What narratives of Wilde's work or life are highlighted? How does Wilde reflect upon the times?

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