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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. For what reason does Clare leave the Beneckes' apartment?
(a) She is going to work.
(b) She is going to the grocery store.
(c) She is going to dinner with a friend.
(d) She is going to see a movie.

2. When Clare appears "at the end of the hallway" (4), what is she wearing?
(a) Slacks and a blouse.
(b) A dress.
(c) Nothing.
(d) A slip.

3. Toward what object does Clare Benecke direct her gaze as she tells Tom Benecke that he "works too much" and "to hard" (6)?
(a) The floor at her feet.
(b) Tom Benecke's face.
(c) Tom Benecke's desk.
(d) Tom Benecke's typewriter.

4. Once the object is outside, it first lands on a ledge how far below the Beneckes' window?
(a) Four feet.
(b) One yard.
(c) One meter.
(d) Three yards.

5. What verb is used to indicate the way in which the "projecting wall" (25) interacts with Tom Benecke as he moves toward it?
(a) Reposes.
(b) Beckons.
(c) Retreats.
(d) Looms.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Tom Benecke hear "scraping steadily along the rough bricks" (24)?

2. The narrator describes Tom Benecke as a man who looks like he had played what sport in college?

3. On what floor of their building do the Beneckes live?

4. What color is paper around which the story revolves?

5. What kind of typewriter does Tom Benecke use?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. What article of clothing does Tom Benecke don before climbing out of his living room window?

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

5. Discuss how Finney employs sensory details as a means to create suspense.

6. Tom Benecke realizes at the beginning of the story that the feeling he is experiencing is not heat. What is it instead?

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

8. Describe the character of Tom Benecke.

9. In what way does the physical description of the exterior of Tom Benecke's apartment dovetail with the theme of isolation?

10. What is the significance of Jack Finney's choice of business field for Tom Benecke?

(see the answer keys)

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