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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. Where do Frank and Alan drink in Venice?

2. What does Alan notice about Frank when Frank gets out of the car with Eda after they drop her off?

3. What is the narrator implying about Brenda's discussion of her children with the comment "The first act was over.... Now came the plot" (37)?

4. Which word is twice used to describe the way Eda looks?

5. What does Frank offer Eda while they are in the car riding around Arezzo?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. 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?

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

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

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

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

8. What does the narrative imply happens between Alan and Eda on the night before the story ends, and what is Alan's reaction to it in the morning?

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

10. What happens between Frank and Eda in his hotel room?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay that examines both the causes and consequences of Frank's restlessness. Support your claims with evidence from the text.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay in which you analyze how material possessions are used as a symbolic motif in "American Express." Be sure to support your ideas with evidence from the text.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay that makes and defends a claim about the role of self-absorption in Frank's and Alan's lives. In what ways does it both help and hinder them? Do they both possess this characteristic to the same degree? Be sure to support your ideas with evidence from the text.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 948 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample