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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. In Padua, where does Alan go for a walk by himself in the early morning?

2. Where did Frank take Alan and Brenda in Paris?

3. What kind of coffee does Frank ask Brenda about?

4. How does Frank strike up a conversation with Eda?

5. What reason does Eda give for refusing to go to Florence with Frank and Alan?

Short Essay Questions

1. In the story's closing paragraphs, what is Alan thinking about, and why?

2. Whom do Frank and Alan meet in Arezzo, and how do they meet her?

3. What is Eda's reaction to Frank's explanation of the situation with Alan, and how does Frank treat her decision?

4. What has happened in Brenda's life since she and Frank broke up?

5. What does Brenda suggest to Frank about New York, and what is it implied that she is hinting about?

6. Where do Frank and Alan take Eda, and what does Frank buy her there?

7. What joke does Brenda make about Italians during the conversation about espresso?

8. What is symbolic about the car that Frank and Alan are in while they tour Europe?

9. When Frank and Alan are leaving a Spoleto restaurant with Eda between them, what does the clerk say, and what is his meaning?

10. What do Frank and Brenda fight about when it is time for her to leave Italy, and how does Alan become involved in the argument?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay in which you make and defend a claim about the role of women in "American Express." Be sure to support your assertions with evidence from the text.

Essay Topic 2

When Alan and Frank exchange a look in the hotel bar in Spoleto after Eda has refused to sleep with Alan, Alan understands Frank's intentions without discussion. "They were like thieves," the narrator comments (45). In what sense are Frank and Alan like thieves? Write an essay that considers not just this scene but the entirety of the story as you make and defend a claim about Frank's and Alan's willingness to "steal" to get what they want. Be sure to support your ideas with evidence from the text.

Essay Topic 3

In an early discussion of Alan's father's legal career, the narrator notes that “No defendant was too guilty, no case too clear-cut” (25). This leads to public disdain for Alan's father, but shortly afterward the reader sees the man himself in action, defending a black man in front of a bigoted jury. Reread this section of the text and then write an essay that considers how Alan's father functions as a metaphor for Salter himself and for his style of writing without sentimentality of the circumstances surrounding the immoral action of having sex with a minor. Support your assertions with evidence from the text.

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