TASK DEFINITION: You will be given a summary of a story. You need to create a question that can be answered from the story. You can create a question about characters, events, facts and beliefs, etc. Your question should be specific, try not to use pronouns instead of full names. As the stories are sometimes movie plots, they will contain actor names in parentheses. You should not use those names. Only use character names. Try to ask a question about all parts of the plot, not just the beginning.
PROBLEM: The novel picks up soon after where Tarzan of the Apes left off. The year is 1910 and Tarzan is 22 years old. The ape man, feeling rootless in the wake of his noble sacrifice of his prospects of wedding Jane Porter, leaves America for Europe to visit his friend Paul d'Arnot. On the ship he becomes embroiled in the affairs of Countess Olga de Coude, her husband, Count Raoul de Coude, and two shady characters attempting to prey on them, Nikolas Rokoff and his henchman Alexis Paulvitch. Rokoff, it turns out, is also the countess's brother. Tarzan thwarts the villains' scheme, making them his deadly enemies.
Later, in France, Rokoff tries time and again to eliminate the ape man, finally engineering a duel between him and the count by making it appear that he is the countess's lover. Tarzan deliberately refuses to defend himself in the duel, even offering the count his own weapon after the latter fails to kill him with his own, a grand gesture that convinces his antagonist of his innocence. In return, Count Raoul finds him a job as a special agent in the French ministry of war. Tarzan is assigned to service in Algeria.
A sequence of adventures among the local Arabs ensues, including another brush with Rokoff. Afterward Tarzan sails for Cape Town and strikes up a shipboard acquaintance with Hazel Strong, a friend of Jane's. But Rokoff and Paulovitch are also aboard, and manage to ambush him and throw him overboard.
Miraculously, Tarzan manages to swim to shore, and finds himself in the coastal jungle where he was brought up by the apes. He soon rescues and befriends a native warrior, Busuli of the Waziri, and is adopted into the Waziri tribe. After defeating a raid on their village by ivory raiders, Tarzan becomes their chief.
The Waziri know of a lost city deep in the jungle, from which they have obtained their golden ornaments. Tarzan has them take him there, but is captured by its inhabitants, a race of ape-like men, and is condemned to be sacrificed to their sun god. To Tarzan's surprise, the priestess to perform the sacrifice is a beautiful woman who speaks the ape language he learned as a child. She tells him she is La, high priestess of the lost city of Opar. When the sacrificial ceremony is fortuitously interrupted, she hides Tarzan and promises to lead him to freedom. But the ape man escapes on his own, locates a treasure chamber, and manages to rejoin the Waziri.
Meanwhile, Hazel Strong has reached Cape Town where she meets Jane and her father, Professor Porter, together with Jane's fianc , Tarzan's cousin William Cecil Clayton. They are all invited on a cruise up the west coast of Africa aboard the Lady Alice, the yacht of another friend, Lord Tennington. Rokoff, now using the alias of M. Thuran, ingratiates himself with the party and is also invited along. The Lady Alice breaks down and sinks, forcing the passengers and crew into the lifeboats. The one containing Jane, Clayton and "Thuran" is separated from the others and suffers terrible privations. Coincidentally, the boat finally makes shore in the same general area that Tarzan did.
The three construct a rude shelter and eke out an existence of near starvation for some weeks until Jane and William Clayton are surprised in the forest by a lion. Clayton loses Jane's respect by cowering in fear before the beast instead of defending her. But they are not attacked, and discover the lion dead, speared by an unknown hand. Their hidden savior is in fact Tarzan, who leaves without revealing himself, not realizing whom he was rescuing. Jane breaks off her engagement to William.
Later Jane is kidnapped and taken to Opar by a party of the Oparian ape-men who were pursuing their escaped sacrifice, Tarzan. The ape man learns of her capture and tracks them, managing to save her from being sacrificed by La. La is crushed by Tarzan's spurning of her for Jane.
Tarzan and Jane make their way up the coast to the former's boyhood cabin, where they encounter the remainder of the castaways of the Lady Alice, safe and sound after having been recovered by Tarzan's friend D'Arnot in another ship. "Thuran" is exposed as Rokoff and arrested.
Tarzan weds Jane and Tennington weds Hazel in a double ceremony performed by Professor Porter, who had been ordained a minister in his youth. Then they all set sail for civilization, taking along the treasure Tarzan had found in Opar.

SOLUTION: What year does the story begin?

PROBLEM: On his deathbed, Mr. Dashwood (Tom Wilkinson) tells his son from his first marriage, John (James Fleet), to take care of his second wife (Gemma Jones) and three daughters, Elinor (Emma Thompson), Marianne (Kate Winslet) and Margaret (Emilie Fran ois), since they will inherit nothing. John's greedy and snobbish wife Fanny (Harriet Walter) convinces him to give his half sisters practically nothing financially and they immediately install themselves in the large house, forcing the Dashwood ladies to look for a new home. Fanny invites her brother Edward Ferrars (Hugh Grant) to stay with them. Elinor and Edward soon form a close friendship, but Fanny haughtily tells Mrs. Dashwood that Edward would be disinherited if he married someone of no importance with no money. Mrs. Dashwood understands her meaning completely.
Sir John Middleton (Robert Hardy), a cousin of the widowed Mrs. Dashwood, offers her a small cottage house on his estate, Barton Park in Devonshire. She and her daughters move in, and are frequent guests at Barton Park. The Dashwoods meet the older Colonel Brandon (Alan Rickman), who falls in love with Marianne at first sight. However, Marianne barely acknowledges him although he is carried in the highest regard and shows only kindness towards her and her family.
One afternoon, Marianne takes a walk with Margaret and slips and falls in the rain. She is carried home by the dashing John Willoughby (Greg Wise), with whom Marianne falls in love. They spend a great deal of time together and clearly fall in love to the point that he snips a lock of her hair to carry with him. Upon leaving one evening, Willoughby asks to spend time alone with Marianne the next day, which could only mean he is going to propose. She asks her mother to stay home from church and during the service Margaret wonders if he will kneel down while proposing. When they return, the find Marianne in tears and Willoughby out of sorts, excusing himself to leave unexpectedly and inexplicably for London.
Sir John's mother-in-law, Mrs. Jennings (Elizabeth Spriggs), invites her daughter and son-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Palmer (Hugh Laurie and Imelda Staunton), to visit. They bring with them the impoverished Lucy Steele (Imogen Stubbs). Lucy confides in Elinor that she and Edward have been engaged secretly for five years, dashing Elinor's hopes of a future with him. Mrs. Jennings offers to take Lucy, Elinor, and Marianne to London. Marianne and Lucy are excited to go since both of their loves are there. Marianne repeatedly reaches out to Willoughby upon their arrival, but receives no response although the talk in town is that they are engaged. When their paths finally cross at a ball. Although Marianne is overwhelmed with happiness to see her love, he greets her coldly. Due to his demeanor, Marianne faints while exiting. The next morning, all of Marianne's letters to him are returned with a note from Willoughby and the lock of her hair that he cut. He apologizes for any misunderstanding that may have caused her to believe that he loved her. Marianne is overwhelmed with grief, but Elinor is incensed since it was clear to her entire family that he loved Marianne greatly. Mrs. Jennings then divulges that Willoughby is now engaged to Miss Grey, the woman he attended the ball with, who has a large inheritance.
Lucy is invited to stay with John and Fanny, as a way for Fanny to avoid inviting the Dashwood sisters to visit them. Lucy, falsely believing that she has a friend in Fanny, confides her clandestine engagement to Edward and is thrown out of the house. Edward's mother demands that he break off the engagement. When he refuses, she arranges to have his fortune transferred to his younger brother, Robert (Richard Lumsden). On hearing this, Colonel Brandon offers Edward the living of the parish on his estate, feeling sympathy for the honorable Edward. He also explains to Elinor why Willoughby left Marianne: he had impregnated Brandon's ward Beth, the illegitimate daughter of his former love Eliza. Willoughby's aunt Lady Allen disinherited him upon the discovery, forcing him to find a wealthy woman to marry. Unfortunately, it all occurred the day that he was set to propose to Marianne. Elinor hopes that knowing he truly loved her is enough to make her sister feel better about losing the man she loved.
On their way home to Devonshire, Elinor and Marianne stop for the night at the country estate of the Palmers, who live close enough to see Willoughby's estate. Marianne cannot resist and walks to see it, becoming caught in a torrential rain. Everyone looks for her frantically and Colonel Brandon finds her just in time. She is sick enough that the doctor recommends that the Palmers remove their child from the house and tells Elinor to prepare herself for her sister's passing. Colonel Brandon, sick with worry over Marianne's health begs for a way to help. Elinor requests that he bring their mother to encourage Marianne to fight through her illness. She arrives just her daughter's fever breaks and she is out of danger. Once they return home, Colonel Brandon and Marianne begin spending time together. During her convalescence, Marianne admits to her sister that she was once foolish to love with her whole heart instead of holding back like Elinor. She also admitted that she knew Willoughby couldn't have all he wanted since he either had to choose love or money.
The Dashwoods soon learn that Miss Steele has become Mrs. Ferrars and assume that she is married to Edward. Later when Edward visits their house, they learn that Miss Steele jilted him in favor of his brother Robert once he had the entire inheritance, releasing Edward from his engagement. Edward proposes to and marries Elinor. Edward becomes a vicar, under the patronage of Colonel Brandon, whom Marianne happily marries. Willoughby is seen forlornly watching their wedding from a distance, and then rides away.

SOLUTION: What actually happens when everyone is expecting John Willoughby to propose to Marianne?

PROBLEM: The Spraggs, a family of midwesterners from the fictional city of Apex who have made money through somewhat shady financial dealings, arrive in New York City at the prompting of their beautiful, ambitious, but socially-naive daughter, Undine. She marries Ralph Marvell, a member of an old New York family that no longer enjoys significant wealth. Before her wedding, Undine encounters an acquaintance from Apex named Elmer Moffatt, a character with "a genuine disdain for religious piety and social cant", as the scholar Elaine Showalter observes. Undine begs him not to do anything that will endanger her wedding to Ralph. Elmer agrees.
Although Ralph dotes on Undine, his finances do not permit the extravagant lifestyle Undine desires, and she feels that her in-laws scorn her. When she becomes pregnant, she is disconsolate; and she neglects her son, Paul, after he is born. Alone in Europe, Undine begins an affair with the nouveau riche Peter Van Degen, who is married to Ralph's cousin, Clare. She then divorces Ralph in the hope of marrying Peter, but this does not work out: Peter seems to want nothing more to do with Undine, and Clare will not grant him a divorce anyway. As a divorcee, Undine loses her high position in society, and spends a few years living in North Dakota, New York, and Paris, scheming to scramble up the social ladder again.
In Paris, a French count, Raymond de Chelles, falls in love with Undine. They desire to get married, but, as a Catholic, Raymond cannot marry a divorc e. To procure enough money to bribe the Pope to annul Undine's previous marriage, Undine blackmails Ralph. Having been awarded custody of their son, but allowing him to live with Ralph (it was inconvenient for her to raise him in Europe), she demands that the boy be sent to her. It is clear that she will let him remain with Ralph only if he sends her a large sum of money. Ralph does not have sufficient funds of his own, so he borrows money from friends and family and invests it in one of Elmer Moffatt's business deals. The deal does not go through in time to meet Undine's deadline, and Moffat also informs Ralph that he had once eloped with Undine and then was divorced from her the secret she feared that New York society would discover. Shocked, and also distraught at the thought of losing his son, Ralph commits suicide. Undine is able to marry Raymond as a widow, though this would not be possible if Raymond knew of her first marriage to Moffat.
Undine is soon dissatisfied with Raymond, too. The de Chelles are hidebound aristocrats, their wealth tied up in land and art and antiques that they will not consider selling, and Undine cannot adjust to the staid customs of upper-class French society. She also resents having to spend most of her time in the country because her husband cannot pay for expensive stays, entertainment, and shopping trips in Paris. Ultimately, she divorces Raymond in order to remarry Elmer Moffatt, who by now has made a fortune. Now, married to the crass midwestern businessman who was best suited to her in the first place, Undine finally has everything she ever desired. Still, it is clear that she wants even more: in the last paragraph of the novel, she imagines what it would be like to be an ambassador's wife a position closed to her owing to her divorces.

SOLUTION:
What can Raymond not do as a Catholic?