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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 many daughters do Silas and Persis Lapham have?
2. To how much does Persis Lapham limit her husband's spending on their new home?
3. What physical ailment has Irene developed in Chapter Six?
4. What room does Irene tell Tom Corey the Laphams will have in their new Beacon Street home?
5. What newspaper has sent reporter Bartley Hubard to interview Silas Lapham in Chapter One?
Short Essay Questions
1. What happens in Chapter Ten when Milton Rogers asks Silas Lapham for a loan, and how does Persis Lapham feel about the situation?
2. What different opinions do Silas and Persis Lapham have in Chapter Seven for why Tom Corey visits them?
3. What aspect of Tom Corey's life does Silas Lapham disapprove of, and what action does Lapham think it would take to improve Corey?
4. What do Tom Corey and his father find unusual about the beverages the Laphams drink and Mrs. Lapham's social entertaining?
5. What is Anna Corey's reaction to her son's decision to go into the mineral paint business?
6. When Tom Corey comes to their new home's construction site, why do the Laphams leave him alone with Irene?
7. Why are the Laphams considered deficient in social graces?
8. Which Lapham sister does Tom Corey talk about when he visits the Laphams and which one does he not talk about, and what do his conversational tendencies indicate?
9. What indication is there in Chapter Ten that Tom Corey might prefer Penelope Lapham over her sister Irene?
10. How does Silas Lapham feel about having Tom Corey work for him, and how does he feel about Tom's work?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Discuss the character of Zerrilla Dewey and how she represents working class women in the Gilded Age. What theme do you think William Dean Howells is trying to convey about working class women and their role in society through the character of Zerrilla and her troubled marriage? Cite examples from the text to support your arguments.
Essay Topic 2
Discuss the meaning of the book's title. It indicates that Silas Lapham will rise during the course of the book, yet he falls financially, so what kind of rise does Silas experience and what incidents in the book illustrate that rise? What theme do you think William Dean Howells is trying to convey through the protagonist's fall and rise in this book? Cite at least three examples from the text to support your arguments.
Essay Topic 3
Tears, Idle Tears is a novel that a number of characters, including Tom Corey and Penelope Lapham, read in the Rise of Silas Lapham. Discuss how the plot and characters of Tears, Idle Tears mirrors or parallels the course of Tom and Penelope's own romance. Cite examples from the text to support your arguments.
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This section contains 984 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) |
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