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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is one thing the narrator says Roderick Usher writes about to him?
(a) Grievous physical illness
(b) An upcoming marriage
(c) A legal problem
(d) A problem with his inheritance

2. For what does Usher think his sister will upbraid him?
(a) His belief in the goodness of God
(b) His desire to keep her body from the physician
(c) For being hasty
(d) His weak constitution

3. What is the narrator doing at the opening of the story?
(a) Riding on horseback
(b) Plowing
(c) Writing a letter to his son
(d) Fighting in a duel

4. What is the expression on the face of the person the narrator encounters on the staircase?
(a) Welcoming
(b) Sad
(c) Cunning and perplexed
(d) Exuberant

5. How does the narrator describe Usher's demeanor?
(a) Restrained hysteria
(b) Confident
(c) Cautious
(d) Aggressive

6. Upon what does the narrator blame what happens the eighth night after Madeline's death?
(a) The gloomy room furnishings
(b) The vision of Madeline as they looked at her in the coffin
(c) The lack of Usher's faith
(d) Too much wine for dinner

7. What deficiency does the narrator note about the Usher family ancestry?
(a) That the entire family lay in the direct line of descent
(b) That it was speckled with other races
(c) That it had a number of issues that were never discussed
(d) It had included persons of dubious character

8. At what point in an opium user's habit does Usher sometimes resemble?
(a) When the drug is almost wore off
(b) After the drug is worn off and the user has to eat some more
(c) During the initial time of intense excitement just after the user has had some opium
(d) During a time when trying to quit the habit and the user is shaking in delirious confusion

9. What music does Usher prefer?
(a) The flute
(b) Stringed instruments
(c) The harpsichord
(d) Voice

10. What does the narrator say he often finds Usher doing?
(a) Singing a lullaby to Madeline
(b) Cutting his arms
(c) Talking to Madeline as if she were still alive
(d) Staring off into space for hours at a time

11. What does the narrator call his "childish experiment"?
(a) Crossing his breast upon viewing the home
(b) Pushing upon several of the leaning trees
(c) Looking down within the tarn
(d) Holding a lit candle to the putrescent leaves

12. Who does Usher say is dying?
(a) His mother
(b) His brother
(c) His sister
(d) His cousin

13. Who is the hero of Trist?
(a) Nathan
(b) Ethelred
(c) Trist
(d) Mandred

14. What does Usher do after shading his lamp's light?
(a) Begins reciting poetry
(b) Throws open the casements
(c) Starts sobbing hysterically
(d) Leans over the lantern and makes a ghastly face

15. What odors does Usher find oppressive?
(a) The smell of women's perfume
(b) The scent from flowers
(c) The odor from the dog
(d) The odor of cooked meat

Short Answer Questions

1. What does the hero of Trist find instead of the hermit?

2. What does Usher offer as an example of his belief about plants?

3. How does the narrator explain what the two men witnessed when looking out the window?

4. What type of energy does the narrator believe Usher's chin shows?

5. Who does the narrator meet on one of the staircases?

(see the answer keys)

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