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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. How does Louise Bently describe her relationship with Jesse's farm?

2. Why does Wing leave Pennsylvania?

3. Where does George walk after leaving work one night?

4. When does Dr. Parcival say he prays all night?

5. Why does Jesse place blame on his dead brothers?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are the paper pills?

2. What does Elizabeth and George watch happen in the alley?

3. What happens the second time Elmer tries to talk to George?

4. What does the idea of death do to the writer in "The Book of the Grotesque"?

5. Why does Hal get arrested in "The Untold Lie"?

6. What does Dr. Parcival tell George about his book?

7. What does George tell his mother he wants to do at the end of "Mother"?

8. What happens to make David fear Jesse?

9. According to the writer, what makes people grotesque?

10. On the night of the storm, what happens between Kate and George?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Compare and contrast the two doctors featured in "Winesburg, Ohio". How are Dr. Parcival and Dr. Reefy alike? Different? What roles do they play in the lives of other characters?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss how three or four characters failed to use their natural talents to better themselves. Describe the talent, including how you are made aware of it. Use evidence from the text to prove the talent and the characters failure to realize it. What happens to these characters as a result? What happens to the people around them? What does this failure mean to the book as a whole?

Essay Topic 3

Select two stories that feature the same character (other than George Willard). How is the character represented in each story? What is the character's role? Is there any growth in the character? What accounts for these differences? What does this character mean to the novel overall?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 771 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample