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. What do the "little questions" (26) the narrator begins to ask himself begin to do to him, as described in the text?
(a) Confuse him.
(b) Make him see the affair for what it was.
(c) Eat away at him.
(d) Nag at him.

2. What sounds does the narrator say may remind him of his lover?
(a) A child singing.
(b) A woman laughing.
(c) A cat or baby crying.
(d) A snake hissing.

3. What does the narrator cite as the other "bad time" (28) he and his lover had?
(a) The time his wife called him.
(b) The time he had to leave.
(c) The time they ran into her boyfriend.
(d) The time he got too drunk.

4. What does the narrator do to try to ease some of the feelings leftover from the affair?
(a) Visit family.
(b) Go to public places to be around people.
(c) Take a class.
(d) Go out with friends.

5. Why does the narrator think he could not let himself fall completely in love with his lover?
(a) He was afraid of commitment.
(b) He knew the affair was going to be so short.
(c) He did not fully trust her.
(d) He was not over his last relationship.

Short Answer Questions

1. What was significant about the night the narrator told his lover that he loved her?

2. What did the narrator see as he walked way from the room for the last time?

3. What does the narrator say is all that is left of the relationship after the pictures and questions go away?

4. What does the narrator say he sometimes feels like when he thinks of his affair?

5. What "comes after [the affair] and lasts longer" (30), according to the narrator?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the narrator describe what happens when you look at the pain as if "in an open box, in a window somewhere" (29)?

2. What was the second bad time the narrator says he and his lover had?

3. The narrator says he would do it again. Why? Was the pleasure greater than the pain?

4. What did the narrator's lover give him before he left? Describe it.

5. What types of things does the narrator say bring back to the memory of his lover just as he thinks he is over the pain?

6. What does the narrator do to try to numb the "large heavy pain" (26) he is left with once the pictures fade?

7. The narrator says he may have only been half falling in love. Why?

8. After adding up the time spent thinking of his lover after the affair has ended, how much does the narrator calculate he has spent?

9. In the final paragraph, what does the narrator question regarding his affair?

10. In what way is the pain from the affair worse than the pleasure?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 734 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample