CHAPTER 42 Quiz — Great Expectations

by Charles Dickens

Comprehension Quiz: CHAPTER 42

How does Magwitch summarize his entire life in a single phrase?

  • "Working and stealing, working and stealing"
  • "In jail and out of jail, in jail and out of jail"
  • "Running and hiding, running and hiding"
  • "Begging and fighting, begging and fighting"

Where does Magwitch first meet Compeyson?

  • At Kingston Jail
  • On the marshes near Pip's village
  • At Epsom Races
  • In a London courtroom

What was Compeyson's primary criminal enterprise?

  • Highway robbery and horse theft
  • Swindling, forgery, and passing stolen bank-notes
  • Smuggling goods across the English Channel
  • Pickpocketing and burglary in London

What does Arthur see in his terrifying deathbed vision?

  • A dark figure carrying chains
  • A woman in white with flowers in her hair and a shroud over her arm
  • The ghost of Compeyson standing over him
  • A burning ship on the Thames

What sentences did Compeyson and Magwitch receive at their trial?

  • Compeyson: 14 years; Magwitch: 7 years
  • Compeyson: 7 years; Magwitch: 14 years
  • Both received 10 years
  • Compeyson: acquitted; Magwitch: life

What argument did Compeyson's lawyer use to win leniency?

  • That Compeyson had cooperated with the authorities from the start
  • That the two men's social class and upbringing should determine their guilt
  • That Magwitch had forced Compeyson into the crimes
  • That the stolen notes were actually legitimate currency

How did Magwitch learn to read?

  • From prison visitors who gave him tracts
  • From Compeyson, who tutored him
  • From a deserting soldier hiding under potatoes
  • From a schoolteacher who took pity on him

True or False: Arthur dies at exactly the time the ghostly woman predicted she would come for him.

  • True
  • False

True or False: Magwitch successfully killed Compeyson when he attacked him on the prison ship.

  • True
  • False

In context, what does Magwitch mean when he says Compeyson was "a dab at the ways of gentlefolks"?

  • Compeyson was awkward around the upper class
  • Compeyson was skilled at imitating gentlemanly behavior
  • Compeyson was employed as a servant to gentlemen
  • Compeyson was critical of the upper class

What does Magwitch mean by saying he was Compeyson's "black slave"?

  • That Compeyson literally owned him
  • That he worked for Compeyson without any pay
  • That Compeyson trapped him through debt and manipulation, making him completely dependent
  • That Compeyson forced him to work in mines

What critical information does Herbert write in his note to Pip?

  • That Magwitch is actually Pip's father
  • That Compeyson is Miss Havisham's betrayer and Arthur was her half-brother
  • That Compeyson has been captured by the police
  • That Magwitch's story contradicts what Jaggers told Pip

When Magwitch says he was "stuck in the stocks," what punishment is he describing?

  • Being locked in a cellar
  • Being confined in a wooden frame that held his feet and hands as public punishment
  • Being placed in solitary confinement
  • Being tied to a post and whipped

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