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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which punctuation mark does the speaker say is the "staple of familial punctuation"(1)?
(a) The insistent question mark.
(b) The silence mark.
(c) The willed silence mark.
(d) The confusion mark.

2. What symbol represents the willed silence mark?
(a) An upside down triangle.
(b) A blackened square.
(c) A circle with an X in it.
(d) An hand silhouette.

3. What topic typically results in willed silence on the part of the speaker?
(a) His schooling.
(b) His grades.
(c) His heart.
(d) His relationships with girls.

4. What did the speaker's father say to his children after the argument with the stranger as he held his hand to his heart?
(a) It's never, ever worth it.
(b) That guy was a jerk.
(c) Don't be a whimp like your old man.
(d) I should have stood up to him.

5. What did the man continue to yell at the speaker's father in the example he uses of the extra exclamation point?
(a) Go away, asshole.
(b) Get over it, loser.
(c) Out of my way, jackass.
(d) Give it up, fucker.

Short Answer Questions

1. What were the stranger and the narrator's father arguing over in the example he uses of the extra exclamation point?

2. How often does the narrator say his family uses the extraexclamation point?

3. Where was the narrator and his family during the only instance he recalls use of the extraexclamation point?

4. How many heart attacks does the speaker say his family has "and counting" (1)?

5. What symbol denotes the extraexclamation point?

Short Essay Questions

1. What symbol indicates the willed silence mark? What does it signify?

2. What symbol represents the extraexclamation points?

3. How often does the speaker say the extra exclamation points are used in his family? Based on your understanding if his family, is this surprising? Explain.

4. What is the extraunxclamation points? What does the speaker think of them?

5. How does the speaker's father engage with the angry man in the example he uses of the extra exclamation points?

6. When does the speaker most often use the willed silence mark?

7. What do readers learn of the grandmother's life in the first paragraph? Describe the context.

8. What does the silence mark symbolize? How often does the speaker say it exists in his family's history?

9. What do we learn of the speaker's family health history in the first paragraph? Describe the context.

10. Who is yelling at the speaker's father and why in the example he uses of the extraexclamation points?

(see the answer keys)

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