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. Many dinner conversations between Mr. Carver, Betsy and Josephine revolved around what topic?
(a) Betsy and Josephine's suitors.
(b) Business.
(c) Law.
(d) Real estate.

2. What quality in himself does Alex say he likes least?
(a) He is a cheater.
(b) He is a poor student.
(c) He is plain Memphis.
(d) He is an only child.

3. In what car does Betsy ride during the family's move to Memphis?
(a) Wyant Brawley's car.
(b) The moving van.
(c) Georgie's car.
(d) The family car.

4. What topic do Phillip and Holly argue about most often?
(a) Thier apartment.
(b) Work.
(c) Money.
(d) Their families.

5. How long do the Carvers live in Memphis?
(a) Thirty years.
(b) Two decades.
(c) Three years.
(d) One year.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who does Mr. Carver talk to concerning his plans to interfere with Phillip's marriage?

2. How does Phillip react to his sister's descriptions of their dates and their love affairs?

3. Holly Kaplan is a Jewish woman from what city?

4. What does Josephine give Phillip on the day he leaves?

5. What is Mother's reaction to Phillip's declaration that moving to Memphis has ruined his life?

Short Essay Questions

1. Phillip visits Alex in Paris during the war in Chapter 5. Describe their time together in Paris. What happens to them on the Rue de Rivoli one afternoon?

2. When Phillip describes Memphis in Chapter 2, he paints detailed pictures of the city of his adolescence and the one he encounters during his adult visits home. He also compares Memphis to Nashville. How has the city of Memphis changed in Phillip's opinion? How do the two cities still differ?

3. As Mr. Carver continues to date and socialize, the two daughters appear to keep very close tabs on him. How does Phillip react to this? What is he able to see about his Father's situation based on the regular correspondence from Josephine and Betsy?

4. In Chapter 1, the narrator begins the story with an explanation of the perils of a widower with middle-aged children,dating. What is the major issue faced by the widower? What examples of this situation does the narrator provide?

5. In Chapter 3, Phillip talks at length about what his sisters have done for both himself and his brother, Georgie. What have they done for their brothers to help them in their lives? What have they potentially sacrificed by helping their brothers in this way? How do the two women continue to take care of their father after the boys leave home?

6. At the end of Chapter 1, Phillip gives a detailed explanation of how the family's move to Memphis affected every member of the family. Who appears to have handled the transition the best? For whom was it the hardest? Discuss the impact on each of the four children and Mr. and Mrs. Carver.

7. In Chapter 6, Betsy describes one evening at the Blue Moon when Mr. Carver arrives with a group of six people all of whom are much younger than he. What happens that evening to Mr. Carver?

8. Phillip is in New York in Chapter 3 and receiving letters from Alex, Betsy and Josephine about Mr. Carver. How does Phillip react to his father's dating? How does he respond to his sisters' treatment of Mr. Carver both in public and private? Why does he take the position he does? How does he respond to Alex's concerns?

9. In Chapter 2, Phillip relates the story of his sister Joesphine's experience with her serious beau, Clarkson Manning. What happens to to their relationship? What does Manning inadvertently do that changes the relationship between the two? How does Father react to Manning?

10. Alex Mercer is Phillip's closest friend in Memphis and he corresponds regularly with Phillip in Manhattan concerning Mr. Carver. In Chapter 3, Phillip discusses Alex's position and concerns about Mr. Carver's new status as a widower and subsequent dating. What are these concerns? Why does Alex worry so much about how Betsy and Josephine will react to their father's dating some of the women in town? How does he look upon the middle aged daughters of his friend and their behavior about town concerning their father?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,422 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample