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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. In Part III, The Fire Sermon, what do the departed forget to leave?

2. What color is the land as the wind crosses it in Part III, The Fire Sermon?

3. Whose tent breaks at the beginning of Part III, The Fire Sermon?

4. What sweats out of the river in Part III, The Fire Sermon?

5. What does the merchant not notice about the typist in Part III, The Fire Sermon?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is Mrs. Porter described in The Fire Sermon?

2. Who is Mr. Eugenides in The Fire Sermon?

3. In The Fire Sermon, what does the typist do when her lover leaves?

4. Why is Mr. Eugenides included in The Fire Sermon?

5. Why are Elizabeth and Leicester mentioned in The Fire Sermon, what?

6. What does the river mentioned at the beginning of The Fire Sermon symbolize?

7. What do the words, “jug, jug, jug” refer to in The Fire Sermon?

8. What is the significance of the title Death by Water?

9. What does Tiresias witness in The Fire Sermon?

10. What is the significance of the title of The Fire Sermon?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

All of the seasons are described at the beginning of the poem. Why is this, and what does this foreshadow?

Essay Topic 2

Eliot references war many times throughout this poem. What are some of these references, and how do they affect the tone of the poem?

Essay Topic 3

Eliot presents the idea that lust and passion are mostly negative things. How does he make this point?

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This section contains 616 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample