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 word does the narrator use to describe the number of "other young men in his company" (18)?
(a) Dozen.
(b) Zero.
(c) Five.
(d) Score.

2. What does Tom Benecke hear "scraping steadily along the rough bricks" (24)?
(a) His stockinged feet.
(b) The buttons of his coat.
(c) The toes of his shoes.
(d) The brim of his hat.

3. What thought does the narrator describe as being difficult for Tom Benecke to "escape" (18)?
(a) The thought that he and Clare are behind on the bills.
(b) The thought that he must differentiate himself from the other young men in his company.
(c) The thought that his wife might be out with another man.
(d) The thought that he is afraid of heights.

4. What action does Tom Benecke take just after dusting off his hands?
(a) He mutters.
(b) He goes into the bathroom.
(c) He lights a cigarette.
(d) He enters the ashtray.

5. To what location had Tom Benecke carried the yellow piece of paper during "a dozen lunch hours and early evenings" (16)?
(a) The public library.
(b) The coffee shop.
(c) The zoo.
(d) The park.

Short Answer Questions

1. What adjective does the narrator use to indicate how Tom Benecke feels about the idea of abandoning the yellow piece of paper?

2. For what length of time does Tom Benecke actually believe that he is "going to abandon the yellow sheet" (17)?

3. At what time does Tom Benecke plan to give the project report to his boss?

4. What adjective is used to describe the face of Clare Benecke?

5. Just before Tom Benecke says, "Got to get this done though" (5), what gesture does he make?

Short Essay Questions

1. What event occurs that causes Tom Benecke to bang his head against the building wall, nearly leading to his death?

2. Discuss details of the story suggesting that Tom Benecke knows the choice he is making to stay home is the wrong one?

3. Discuss the way in which Finney uses the hypothetical with a particular purpose in mind in Paragraph 20.

4. In what way does the outside contrast with the inside throughout the story and for what purpose?

5. In what way does the theme of deception enter the narrative in the first ten paragraphs of the story?

6. To what aspect of his life does Tom Benecke link his "guilty conscience" (1) at the start of the story?

7. What types of information are written upon the yellow sheet of paper?

8. Why and how does Finney portray forward momentum as a negative force within business?

9. What does the yellow sheet of paper symbolize?

10. How is irony present within Tom Benecke's feeling about the idea of abandoning the yellow sheet of paper?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,292 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample