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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 action does Tom Benecke take after walking Clare Benecke to the "front-door closet" (10)?

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

3. What is the nature of Tom Benecke's innovative idea concerning the grocery business?

4. Of what material is the clothing made that Tom Benecke dons just before venturing out onto the ledge?

5. What article of clothing does Tom Benecke don just before he ventures out onto the ledge?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the miscalculations Tom Benecke makes when he is preparing to go outside.

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

3. What does the yellow sheet of paper symbolize?

4. How does Tom Benecke feel about the idea of abandoning the yellow sheet of paper at the beginning of the story?

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

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

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

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

9. What, if any, direct benefit does Tom Benecke believe he will receive in exchange for his idea for a new method of display?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the reasons why Jack Finney's story Contents of the Dead Man's Pocket employs a third person omniscient narrator. What elements of the story's themes lend themselves to this choice, and what is Finney’s intended effect on the reader?

Essay Topic 2

Analyze Jack Finney's story "Contents of the Dead Man's Pocket" from an Existential perspective. What elements of life does it suggest hold the most meaning and why?

Essay Topic 3

What messages does Jack Finney's story "Contents of the Dead Man's Pocket" send about family bonds, and what themes does Finney employ in order to send these messages to the reader?

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