View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Of what poet did Phil Dixon say "Of course, we're all wondering what will happen when he runs out of animals" (16)?
(a) James Joyce.
(b) Edgar Allan Poe.
(c) Robert Frost.
(d) Ted Hughes.

2. What monarch's reign did Old Joe Hunt ask his students about on the third day of class, according to the narrator in Chapter 1?
(a) Elizabeth I.
(b) Charles II.
(c) Margaret I.
(d) Henry VIII.

3. The narrator notes in Chapter 1, "Some Englishman once said that marriage is a long dull meal with" what "served first" (106)?
(a) "The salad."
(b) "The soup."
(c) "The pudding."
(d) "The cake."

4. What does the narrator describe being tossed into a wet sink, causing it to steam in the opening of Chapter 1?
(a) A hot frying pan.
(b) A hot knife.
(c) A hot
(d) A hot iron.

5. What word from Chapter 1 refers to failing to act as a result of moral weakness?
(a) Petulant.
(b) Gregarious.
(c) Pessimistic.
(d) Supine.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who is described in Chapter 1 as "a cautious know-nothing who lacked the inventiveness of true ignorance" (13)?

2. What did Adrian tell Alex as they said goodbye the last time that Alex saw him?

3. What did the narrator's mother attribute as the reason that Adrian killed himself?

4. By whom was Adrian raised?

5. Who among his group of friends does the narrator say everyone wrote the most to during college and wanted his approval?

Short Essay Questions

1. What do the protagonist and Alex conclude regarding Adrian's suicide?

2. What is the significance of the memory fragments that are presented by the narrator in the opening of Chapter 1?

3. How does the narrator describe the meeting with his friends one year after Adrian's suicide?

4. What are the protagonist's impressions of the Ford family when he meets them?

5. How is the narrative related in The Sense of an Ending? From whose perspective is the story told? Why?

6. Where do the protagonist and his friends go to college after high school?

7. What does the letter from Adrian say regarding Veronica in Chapter 1?

8. How does the dynamic of the narrator's group of friend's change with the introduction of Adrian?

9. What philosophical arguments are made regarding the act of suicide among the protagonist and his friends during high school?

10. Why does the protagonist feel that Veronica may be partly to blame for Adrian's suicide?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 846 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample