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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. What is the only reason that Bob can imagine Jimmy not showing up?

2. What detail reveals Bob's emotions when he discovers that Jimmy has betrayed him?

3. What is the most likely reason that Bob does not recognize Jimmy when they are talking?

4. The narrator says, on page 619, that something has "well nigh depeopled the streets." In this context, what does the phrase "well nigh" mean?

5. What is it reasonable to infer is the officer's motive in listening to Bob "with interest" (621)?

Short Essay Questions

1. What surprises Bob about the appearance of the man that he thinks is his old friend, and how does the man explain away Bob's doubts?

2. Why does Jimmy, in his role as the police officer, ask Bob if he is going to keep waiting for his friend to show up?

3. How does the introduction of Bob's character contrast with the introduction of Jimmy's character?

4. When the plainclothes officer tells Bob "We'll go around to a place I know of, and have a good long talk about old times," (621), what does he mean, and what does Bob likely think he means?

5. What were the circumstances of the agreement Jimmy and Bob made 20 years ago?

6. Why does Bob guess that Jimmy might not be as much of a success as Bob himself has become?

7. How is Bob characterized by the accessories that he carries?

8. In the story's beginning, what evidence is there that Jimmy takes pride in his job?

9. What does the note from Jimmy explain to Bob?

10. What is amusing about the plainclothes officer's answer to Bob's question about whether he is doing well in New York?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay that makes and defends a claim about the beliefs about friendship and loyalty conveyed by "After Twenty Years." Use textual evidence to support your ideas.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay in which you make and defend a claim about the thematic motifs of materialism and greed in "After Twenty Years." Support your ideas with evidence from the text.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay that makes and defends a claim about diction in "After Twenty Years." Be sure that your essay goes beyond labeling types of diction and noting the effect of particular word choices; you should establish a claim in the beginning of your essay about the significance of patterns of diction choices to the meaning or impact of the text as a whole. Use quoted textual evidence to support your arguments.

(see the answer keys)

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