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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 consequence does the man with the pistol say he will dole out if Anders takes a certain action?

2. What object is stated to be much faster than the bullet speeding through Anders's head?

3. The narrator states that Anders "would have" (35) felt in what way about the phrase "passed before his eyes" (35)?

4. One element in the chain reaction happening within Anders's brain is named as "ion" (35) what?

5. What word does the man with the pistol utter after he states Anders's consequence for a certain action?

Short Essay Questions

1. What event happens to force Anders to examine the domed ceiling of the bank?

2. Discuss an instance of irony within the story.

3. What appears to be the source of the man with the pistol's anger toward Anders?

4. To what question does Anders answer, "No" in Paragraph 20 before he fights to maintain decorum?

5. What is the overall subject of the mural painted upon the bank's ceiling?

6. What season and time of day are portrayed within Anders's one witnessed memory?

7. Where are the entrance and exit wounds inflicted by the bullet to Anders's head?

8. Describe the eyes of the man with the pistol.

9. What is Wolff's purpose for describing the eyes of the man with the pistol?

10. What event causes Anders to imagine a cartoon bubble and what does it say?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Look carefully at Anders’s language use throughout the story. What is Wolff’s purpose for shaping Anders’s voice in the way that he does? For example, why does Wolff choose to have Anders make an allusion to an Ernest Hemingway story as he is remarking on the robbers’ use of language?

Essay Topic 2

Determine Wolff’s message regarding the phenomenon of becoming a jaded human being over time.

Essay Topic 3

Trace the characterization arc of Anders’s character throughout the story. Discuss whether Anders is a round or flat character and whether he is a static or dynamic character.

(see the answer keys)

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