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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 the author first see in person the painting that inspired this book?

2. Who painted the 1898 portrait of Jean Lorrain that is featured in the book?

3. How old was Dr. Pozzi when Sargent painted him in the red coat?

4. Who was the matchmaker for Samuel Pozzi and his wife Therese?

5. When did Dr. Pozzi receive his doctorate on fistulas of the upper rectum?

Short Essay Questions

1. What caused the initial problems between Dr. Pozzi and his wife?

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

3. Why was Oscar Wilde put on trial? What was the outcome?

4. What does the Belle Époque refer to?

5. What is known about Montesquiou's sexual exploits, according to the author?

6. What is the novel A Rebours about?

7. Who was Guy de Maupassant?

8. What is an aesthete?

9. Who was Edmond de Goncourt?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe and discuss the life of Prince Edmond de Polignac. When and where was he born? What was his family like? Where did he grow up? What was his status in France during the Belle Époque?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the motif of literature in the Man in the Red Coat. Who are some of the most notable authors of the Belle Époque that are discussed in the book? What did they write? What literary styles emerged during this time period?

Essay Topic 3

Who was Edmond de Goncourt and why is he important in the narrative? What publications did Edmond de Goncourt publish? Who did he know among the elite circles of France?

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