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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. Tom Benecke reflects that "no more" (56) than what distance away from him, there are "scores of people" (56)?

2. What color is being displayed by the traffic lights Tom Benecke sees below him?

3. How wide are the "wood strips" (43) onto which Tom Benecke holds in order to save his own life?

4. What action takes place the moment that Tom Benecke regains his momentum toward the building wall?

5. What emotion does Tom Benecke feel when he finally looks down from the ledge?

Short Essay Questions

1. Tom Benecke decides in Paragraph 31 that he must not faint. What method does he employ to attain this aim?

2. What is Tom Benecke's estimate about when his wife Clare Benecke will likely return home?

3. When Tom Benecke finally looks down, what does he see?

4. What is the significance of Tom Benecke's act of spitting out the object that is in his mouth?

5. How is the motif of the carnivalesque apparent within Tom Benecke's image of what he will do when he regains access to his apartment?

6. What else happens when Tom Benecke's wrists are "jarred" (41) from the frame of the window?

7. What element of the movement inside Tom Benecke's apartment shocks him?

8. In what manner does Tom Benecke find the yellow sheet of paper?

9. What object does Tom Benecke spit out within the story?

10. What conclusion does Tom Benecke reach about the act of looking down?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Finney uses sensory details frequently by the author in order to create vivid pictures of Tom Benecke’s progression through the narrative. Choose three scenes in which sensory details are heavily used and discuss how the sensory details used by Finney serve his creation of a more vivid character.

Essay Topic 2

Analyze the interplay between the resolution of Jack Finney's story "Contents of the Dead Man's Pocket" and one of the story's main messages. How does Finney make connections between these elements, and how does their juxtaposition help Finney get across one main message of the story?

Essay Topic 3

Determine Jack Finney's message within "Contents of a Dead Man's Pocket" regarding the idea that a person’s entire life can be wasted in the pursuit of success in business.

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