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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What was Michael's favorite television series as a kid?
(a) Bewitched.
(b) Newhart.
(c) Cheers.
(d) Mork and Mindy.

2. How tall is the Murderer described as being in "Portrait of a Killer as a Middle-Aged Man"?
(a) 5'10".
(b) 6'2".
(c) 5'8".
(d) 6'.

3. To what is Michael Dunbar's house compared through metaphor in "The Corridor" (134)?
(a) An open sky.
(b) A castle.
(c) A mountain.
(d) A hunchback.

4. Where did Penelope reach a refugee camp where whe was interviewed and fingerprinted in "The Birthday Girl"?
(a) West Berlin.
(b) Salzberg.
(c) Traiskirchen.
(d) Klagenfurt.

5. What is the title of Part 4 of the novel?
(a) "Cities + Waters + Criminals + Arches."
(b) "Cities + Roads + Criminals + Waters."
(c) "Cities + Arches."
(d) "Cities + Waters + Bridges."

Short Answer Questions

1. What was the name of Michael Dunbar's mother?

2. Whose letter did Clay read first in "War of the Roses"?

3. Matthew describes Rory and Henry looking like melded elements in "The Forces are Displayed" (76). What elements does he describe combined?

4. What animals did Matthew dig up before finding the typewriter in "Before the Beginning"?

5. Who was the next-door neighbor to the Dunbars in "Portrait of a Killer as a Middle-Aged Man"?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the symbolic significance of the "ol' TW" in the novel (149)?

2. How did Penelope react upon learning of Abbey?

3. Who are the Dunbar sons and what are their basic qualities?

4. What is the symbolic significance of Clay's lighter?

5. Why did Penelope like the house at 18 Archer Street?

6. Where is the Murderer when Matthew finds him in the house in Part 1? What is he doing?

7. How is Penelope's childhood described? Who raised her?

8. How does irony apply to Penelope's piano in Part 4?

9. What did Clay do after reading through the stacks of his father's plans while Michael was at the mining site in Part 4?

10. Discuss the structure of the novel. How is the story related?

(see the answer keys)

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