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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 does Ata's son become?

2. What does Crabbe say Dirk does for the first time in a week?

3. What was the name of the old sailor Strickland and Nichols stayed with?

4. What is the piano covered with?

5. What does Crabbe think Dirk's father does in the evening?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Mrs. Strickland react to news about her husband?

2. How does Strickland's portrait of Blanche affect Dirk?

3. What does Coutras think is so wonderful about Strickland's final paintings?

4. How did Tiare persuade Strickland to marry Ata?

5. What does Crabbe notice about Blanche when he sees her with Strickland?

6. How does Strickland life change for the better when he marries Ata?

7. Why does Dirk want Crabbe to write Blanche a letter?

8. How does Cohen know Strickland?

9. How does Dirk try to win Blanche back?

10. What does Crabbe think about Strickland's paintings?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What signs are there in the book that Blanche is such an unstable person? How is her insecurity linked to her fear of Strickland?

Essay Topic 2

In what way do Amy and Strickland's lives take an opposite direction after Strickland leaves for Paris? What does it say about their natural characters that they both succeed in their new lives?

Essay Topic 3

What does Maugham suggest is the nature of genius? Why is Charles Strickland considered a genius?

(see the answer keys)

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