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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. How does Basil describe the portrait after seeing how it has changed?

2. What happens to Dorian’s portrait during Chapter Eleven?

3. What does Dorian not want Lord Henry to loan to anyone, according to Chapter Nineteen?

4. What happens to Dorian throughout dinner in Chapter Seventeen?

5. What happens when Dorian excuses himself from the conversation in Chapter Seventeen?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Dorian get angry with Basil in Chapter Thirteen?

2. What does Lord Henry’s credo mean?

3. What does Dorian mean when he says he will show Basil his soul in Chapter Twelve?

4. Why does Basil call Dorian’s painting “an awful lesson?”

5. Compare and contrast Basil and Lord Henry’s views of Dorian.

6. Why does Dorian tell Lord Henry in Chapter Eighteen that he wishes he could love?

7. Why does Dorian swoon and feel chills throughout dinner in Chapter Seventeen?

8. Why does Dorian decide to go to the opium den in Chapter Sixteen?

9. Why does Wilde not reveal the secret that Dorian uses to blackmail Alan?

10. Explain how and why Dorian dies at the end of The Picture of Dorian Gray.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Define motif. How is a motif used in literature? Give at least one example of a motif in The Picture of Dorian Gray. Is this motif effective in the story? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

Define escapism. What role does escapism play in The Picture of Dorian Gray? What does Dorian seek to escape throughout the story? Is he successful? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 3

Throughout the story, Dorian is caught between two worlds. Explain these two worlds and how Dorian is caught between them. What effect does this have on him? How does he deal with this situation? Is it resolved? How?

(see the answer keys)

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