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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. Where was Minor born?
2. What two words does the author use to describe the Lambeth area, particularly in relation to the undrained marsh?
3. What was the name of Murray's first wife?
4. How many years did it take to complete the Oxford English Dictionary?
5. What did Judith do professionally?
Short Essay Questions
1. The author says that Minor became unworried by his "lascivious thoughts" while at Yale. What is a possible explanation for this?
2. According to the author, "The quotes would show how words had been used over centuries and explained when they had changed. The project was commissioned in the 1850s but was not profitable, yet many believe the OED is valuable far beyond its price." Why might people believe it is valuable far beyond its price?
3. What effect could the tragic death of his daughter have had on Murray's diligence in working on the Oxford English Dictionary?
4. How did Minor's branding of a deserting Irish soldier become connected to his excessive guilt about his own perceived "wrongs"?
5. In what way was Furnivall's call to ask participants to choose a time period for the book a very intelligent idea to spur the makings of the Oxford English Dictionary onward?
6. Why might the author have defined the word "protagonist" in such depth?
7. Some critics say that Samuel Johnson put too much of his personality into his work on his dictionary. How would it be possible to avoid this type of criticism?
8. What aspects of the Latin-English dictionaries provided impetus for the makers of the Oxford English Dictionary to make their own English dictionary?
9. What can be appreciated about the Oxford English Dictionary being called "The Big Dictionary"?
10. What does the title of the book imply to prospective readers?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Does the author associate much stigma with mental illness in the text? Give examples in your answer and explore what effects, in the author's view, mental illness might have had on the production of The Oxford English Dictionary.
Essay Topic 2
Explore the ways in which self-delusion is important to the events in the text. Make reference to Minor as well as at least one other figure.
Essay Topic 3
What do you think The Oxford English Dictionary represents to the author? Illustrate your answer with examples from the text.
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This section contains 1,076 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) |
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