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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. Upon whom does the speaker often "inflict willed silences" (2)?

2. What does the speaker's mother suggest he may be ashamed of when discussing his relationships with girls?

3. When discussing the extraexclamation point, what does the speaker say he and his family never do "with any passion" (3)?

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

5. What did the speaker's grandmother say to him in his example of the unxclamation point?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the insistent question mark? When is it used per the speaker's example?

2. Which member of the family uses the pedal point most with the speaker? Why?

3. How does the speaker describe his relationships with women?

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

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

6. What conversation does the speaker use to exemplify the silence mark? To whom is he speaking? What is the subject of their conversation?

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

8. 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.

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The speaker's grandmother once told him that she hopes he never loves anyone as much as she loves him. Write an analysis of this line. Include her backstory and how her experience may have led her to this moment.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay analyzing the symbolic significance the narrator's family health history has on the story. Why is this important and how does it develop the themes of the story? Use examples from the text to support your viewpoint.

Essay Topic 3

Examine how the theme of inherited trauma plays a part in the plot of the story.

(see the answer keys)

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