Answers to Phantom of the Opera Questions

1.      Correct Answer: C

Why: A doesn’t work because the speaker constantly references Erik by name, discusses his past and the speaker’s opinion of him. There is no textual evidence to support either B or E. The speaker is far from horrified—he shares humane details about Erik, emphasizing his wish for normalcy. So the correct answer is C as the speaker clearly states that “we must needs pity the Opera ghost” (Leroux 263), showing that he sympathizes with Erik’s predicament.

2.      Correct Answer: B

Why: The speaker recognizes the phantom “by the plain gold ring which he wore and which Christine Daae had certainly slipped on his finger” (Leroux 264), making Option I correct. Nothing in the text supports that the idea that Phantom got married; the speaker even references Erik’s unfulfilled dream of having a wife. The ring was placed on Erik post-mortem, meaning that Christine came back to Paris in order to keep her promise and bury him. So the ring signifies the strength of their bond, making Option III  right. So, B is the correct answer.

3.      Correct Answer: D

Why: The mention of building relates the sentence to the next, not the repetition of “ordinary,” eliminating E. Since the adjective doesn’t particularly draw out the sentence or build to an upcoming climax, it does not create suspense. Although the repetition does contrast with Erik’s “adventurous life” (Line 16) and can create a rhythm, that isn’t the main purpose of the literary device. It mainly functions to drive home Erik’s wish to be “‘like everybody else’” (Leroux 263), making answer D the correct answer.

4.      Correct Answer: C

Why: The novel is written in first person so the “I” mentioned in Line 5 refers to the speaker, eliminating A.  The referenced “he” helped the monarch, so the “he” can’t be the Sultan. Although there is direct dialogue with the reader, the reader never enters the story. The Yildiz-Kiosk in the following sentence is a place, not a person, making the correct answer D.

5.      Correct Answer: C

Why: Line 6, “I need only say that it was Erik,” makes it clear that the piece is told in first person. Repetition can be found in Line 28-30; it was also referenced in a previous question. Rhetorical questions can be found throughout as the speaker attempts to sway the audience’s opinion.  Lines 7-8 contain polysyndeton, making C, anaphora, the only unaccounted for literary device.