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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 were the narrator and his lover doing when he first told her he loved her?

2. How did the narrator's lover respond when he told her he loved her?

3. What do the "little questions" (26) the narrator begins to ask himself begin to do to him, as described in the text?

4. How does the narrator describe how his impending pain looks in an open box in a window?

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

Short Essay Questions

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

2. 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?

3. Describe the first bad time the speaker recalls having with his lover.

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

5. How long after the affair does the narrator think his time thinking of her is reduced to about and hour or two a day?

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

7. What does the narrator see as he walks away from his lover at the end of their trip?

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay exploring the theme of remorse in "Break it Down." When and how is this theme revealed? Does the narrator regret his affair? Explain using textual evidence.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay exploring Davis's decision to write a story in which the main action is in the past and only revealed through the narrator's reflection. How does this impact the reading? What might this say about the themes of the story? Do you agree with the author's choice?

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay examining the green shirt as a symbol in "Break it Down." In what scenes does the shirt appear? What is the context? How does the shirt develop the narrative?

(see the answer keys)

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