Sense and Sensibility

Multiple Choice and Long Answer questions create ideal opportunities for whole-text review, unit exam, or summative assessments.

Multiple Choice

1. Which characteristics distinguish Elinor from her mother and Marianne?

A) She is more curious and enthusiastic.

B) She is calmer and more practical.

C) She is more sociable and talkative.

D) She is more religious and scholarly.

2. Which character best represents the values of Romanticism?

A) Marianne

B) Elinor

C) Colonel Brandon

D) Edward Ferrars

3. Which event is the initial turning point in Marianne’s regard for Colonel Brandon?

A) When Mrs. Jennings tries to get Elinor and Brandon together.

B) When Brandon wishes Marianne happiness in her supposed engagement to Willoughby.

C) When Marianne learns the true history of Brandon, Eliza, and Willoughby.

D) When Willoughby criticizes Brandon as dull and uninspiring.

4. Which of the following statements would Elinor be most likely to agree with?

A) A person’s negative qualities should not prevent you from recognizing their merits.

B) Those who carelessly harm others should be excluded from polite society.

C) People are either born evil or born good, and life circumstances have little influence.

D) The community is collectively responsible for the actions of its members.

5. How does Elinor change over the course of the novel?

A) She becomes more cautious about romantic entanglements.

B) She becomes more willing to share her emotions.

C) She becomes more aware of the importance of money.

D) She becomes more independent and self-confident.

6. Which is a characteristic Austen uses to convey the personality differences between Marianne and Elinor?

A) Their religious beliefs

B) Their attachment to family

C) Their educational achievements

D) Their physical appearances

7. What event causes Marianne to begin to reevaluate her approach to life?

A) Elinor’s marriage

B) Willoughby’s marriage

C) Her illness at Cleveland

D) Mrs. Ferrars’s rejection of Elinor

8. What makes Edward unsuited to the life his mother and sister envision for him?

A) His education

B) His political beliefs

C) His temperament

D) His social status

9. Which character functions as a foil to Colonel Brandon?

A) John

B) Edward

C) Willoughby

D) Robert

10. Given the Dashwoods’ social context, what is unusual about Mrs. Dashwood’s approach to her daughters’ love lives?

A) She is more interested in their education than in their love lives.

B) She allows her daughters to be largely unchaperoned.

C) She hopes that none of her daughters will marry.

D) She prioritizes love over social and financial advantage.

11. What do Mrs. Dashwood’s marriage to Mr. Dashwood and Marianne’s marriage to Brandon have in common?

A) For both men, these marriages represent second chances at love.

B) Both marriages are initially seen as impractical but work out in the end.

C) Both marriages result in the disinheritance of one of the parties.

D) For both women, these marriages are a step down socially.

12. Which is the most accurate characterization of John Dashwood?

A) Contemptuous and preoccupied with intellect and education

B) Selfish and preoccupied with money and status

C) Pompous and preoccupied with being the center of attention

D)Cruel and preoccupied with power and control

13. Which event most clearly supports the text’s thematic concern with Women’s Power in a Patriarchal Society?

A) Mrs. Ferrars’ resistance to Edward’s career ambitions

B) Mrs. Dashwood’s plans to renovate Barton Cottage

C) Marianne’s initial dismissal of Brandon as a suitor

D) John’s inheritance of Norland Park after Mr. Dashwood’s death

14. Which event most clearly supports the text’s thematic concern with Sensibility Versus Real Feeling?

A) Lucy’s flattery of Mrs. Ferrars

B) Marianne’s fever at Cleveland

C) The duel between Brandon and Willoughby

D) Fanny’s manipulation of John

15. Whose character arc most clearly demonstrates the text’s thematic concern with The Lifelong Mission of Character Improvement?

A) Margaret’s

B) Anne’s

C) Lucy’s

D) Marianne’s

Long Answer

Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating text details to support your response.

1. How does Austen use Marianne and Elinor’s hobbies to convey the differences in their personalities?

2. What is ironic about Marianne’s initial impression of Colonel Brandon as a dull and uninteresting man?