View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who is the author of A Lover's Ear?

2. Who wrote The Street Sweeping Show?

3. Who is the author of the story Terminal?

4. Who wrote Family Album?

5. Where is the author of A Lover's Ear from?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does the central female character in Facing the Light send her servant away? What realization does she face?

2. Who is the central character in There's a Man in the Habit of Hitting Me on the Head? What happens to him?

3. What do Tancredi's two heads do once he grows up in Tancredi?

4. What memory is related in the story Snow?

5. How does the central theme and structure of Looking for the Rain God relate to other stories in the collection?

6. How do Di Grasso and The Street-Sweeping Show relate thematically?

7. What is the setting of Di Grasso? From whose perspective is the story told?

8. What does the protagonist in A Lover's Ear keep with her at all times? What takes place in the climax of the narrative?

9. What is implied in the story The Verb To Kill? What do the central characters do in the narrative?

10. What physical ailment does the central character in Terminal suffer from?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe the themes, symbolism, and imagery implemented by the author in The Grasshopper and the Bell Cricket. How does the tone of this story differ or relate to those around it in the anthology?

Essay Topic 2

Describe the setting, characters, and themes in An Insolvable Problem of Genetics. What about the setting informs the characters' racial bias?

Essay Topic 3

Compare the works Welcoming the Board of Directors and The Boy. How is the narrative voice in the stories different? What differences exist in the stories' tones? How is the teacher in The Boy reflective of Oates feminist perspective?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 912 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample