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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. What does Miss Andersen sell?

2. What does the narrator say his landlord does for a profession?

3. What is the woman thinking of buying from the butcher's shop?

4. What is the narrator tempted to steal from the marketplace?

5. What does the narrator tell Queeny is in his package?

Short Essay Questions

1. How do the policemen throughout the novel treat the narrator?

2. What lie does the narrator invent to explain why he returned for the pencil?

3. How does the narrator view the red rocking chair when he decides to leave his apartment for good?

4. Describe the narrator's fantasy of Princess Ylayali's castle.

5. Why does Mr. Christie reject the narrator?

6. How does the narrator react to the organ-grinder's daughter's silence?

7. Why is the narrator glad when the stable-boy asks him for five kroner?

8. How does the narrator react to Queeny's advice on tailors?

9. What stories does the narrator tell to explain the package with his green blanket inside?

10. Why do the two shopkeepers refuse the narrator money?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the parallels between the narrator's surroundings and his mental state. How do the narrator's surroundings affect his writing? How are his thoughts influenced by being in certain locations, such as by a church or at the pier?

Essay Topic 2

What do you think are the main mistakes the narrator makes in the novel? Why does he keep missing opportunities for food and money? How would you react in a similar situation?

Essay Topic 3

Identify the main themes of the story. In what way are these themes relevant to the period? How does the author use character and setting to express these themes?

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