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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Ivanovich enjoy reading?
(a) German Classical poetry.
(b) Russian lyrical poetry.
(c) French Baroque poetry.
(d) English metaphysical poetry.

2. What technique is used in the phrase "Wispy clouds—greyhounds of heaven" (6)?
(a) Metonymy.
(b) Allegory.
(c) Metaphor.
(d) Synechdoche.

3. When the narrator says that the road "undulated," what is being said of this road (12)?
(a) It gently rises and falls.
(b) It abruptly ends.
(c) It curves sharply.
(d) It varies in width.

4. At the inn near the lake, what nationality does Ivanovich believe the innkeeper to be?
(a) Russian.
(b) Austrian.
(c) Italian.
(d) German.

5. One woman is described as "burlesque" (6). From the context, which is most likely true?
(a) She is uncomfortably flirtatious.
(b) She works as an exotic dancer in Berlin.
(c) She seems like an exaggerated caricature.
(d) She spends most of the trip making jokes.

6. What is discovered when the group members pool their food for dinner?
(a) Ivanovich is the only one who has brought something different.
(b) The women are unwilling to prepare the food for the men.
(c) Some have brought very little food along.
(d) Most of the food has been spoiled by the long journey.

7. On page 19, to what does the narrator compare Ivanovich's return journey, away from the lake?
(a) A "soul-shattering nightmare."
(b) A "cruel, demeaning prank."
(c) A "hideous fairy tale."
(d) A "sinister game."

8. How does the text's language change when the group gets off the train at the last stop on the first day?
(a) The language becomes more circuitous.
(b) The language becomes more grandiloquent.
(c) The language becomes more conversational.
(d) The language becomes more lyrical.

9. What technique is used in the story's title?
(a) Non Sequitur.
(b) Euphemism.
(c) Euphony.
(d) Asyndeton.

10. From context, what is the likely meaning of the word "dactyl" in "On the other side...towered, arising from dactyl to dactyl, an ancient black castle" (14)?
(a) A type of stone used in medieval constructions.
(b) An image found in a metrical foot of poetry.
(c) An architectural figure of a bird.
(d) A tower in the shape of a digit, like a toe or finger.

11. In the exclamation "How I hate you, our daily!" what technique is being used (13)?
(a) Dialect.
(b) Amplification.
(c) Synesthesia.
(d) Allusion.

12. The group leader is "lanky" (5). What does this mean is true about him?
(a) He looks unhealthy.
(b) He is tall and thin.
(c) He is athletic.
(d) He moves stiffly.

13. What is the job of the older man who talks to Ivanovich about Russia?
(a) Paper manufacturer.
(b) Accountant.
(c) Produce distributor.
(d) Post-office clerk.

14. Who wrote the book that Ivanovich opens on the train?
(a) Goethe.
(b) De Viau.
(c) Donne.
(d) Tiutchev.

15. What technique is used in the phrase "toward a train lurking behind other trains"?
(a) Hyperbole.
(b) Cacophony.
(c) Personification.
(d) Conceit.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who is depicted "in a low-cut gown" on page 4?

2. In the description of the "mother-of-pearl claws on his dirty toes," what is the man with whom Ivanovich spends the night being compared to (12)?

3. In the phrase "several people, alas, were taking part in the excursion," what is the word "alas" meant to convey (4)?

4. What instrument does one of the men insist on teaching Ivanovich to play?

5. What does Ivanovich do to distract himself from "the absurdity and horror of the situation" (6)?

(see the answer keys)

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