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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 is the one thing Violet cannot find in her bedroom at the Squalor's penthouse apartment?

2. What is missing on the orphans' new street?

3. During their first few days with the Squalors, whom do the Baudelaires scarcely see?

4. What type of ice cream does the narrator at the beginning of Chapter 1 state you may be nervous about eating?

5. What kind of restaurant is Cafe Salmonella?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why do the Baudelaire children lie about whether they are interested in or enjoy their presents from Esme?

2. Why is it important to know that Jerome Squalor could have adopted the Baudelaire children earlier but did not because orphans were not "in"?

3. What does the pinstripe suits being too big illustrate about Esme Squalor?

4. Why are the references to the King of Arizona important to the story?

5. Why is the meaning of "nervous" and "anxious" important to the reader's understanding of the novel?

6. What is the significance of the Hansel and Gretel fairy tale to the Baudelaire's search for Gunther in the penthouse?

7. Why does the narrator compare the Baudelaire children's experience at the Squalor's house as a mixed bag?

8. How does the atmosphere on Dark Avenue mirror the orphans' feelings in Chapter 1?

9. Why don't Esme and Jerome Squalor believe the children that Gunther is really Count Olaf?

10. What is the importance of the doorman's strange clothing?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The theme of what's in and out is prevalent throughout the novel. Select three of the major characters and explain how they experience the effects of in and out and acceptance. Use examples from the text to support your answer.

Essay Topic 2

How do the author's methods at the beginning of the novel set the tone?

Part 1) How does the address for the Baudelaire children's new home on Dark Avenue further the tone?

Part 2) How does the cutting down of the trees once "light" is "in" help secure the tone of dread and gloom?

Part 3) How does the shadow that falls over the children at the end of Chapter 3 further the tone of dread?

Use examples from the text to support your answer.

Essay Topic 3

At the beginning of the novel, the Baudelaire children are forced to climb a staircase in the darkness with randomly placed candles for small pockets of light. As they move up the staircase, they frequently come across others in apartment building, shadows behind closed doors that make occasionally make noises of life. How is this single scene a symbol of the Baudelaire children's past "shadows" and dread? Use examples from the text to support your answer.

(see the answer keys)

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