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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. In "Sleeping Like Dogs", where does the story take place?

2. In "The Adventure of a Photographer", who does Antonino Paraggi look down upon?

3. In "Theft in a Pastry Shop", who broke into the pastry shop according to the official police report?

4. "The Adventure of a Clerk," how does Enrico Gnei feel when his day starts?

5. In "The Adventure of a Bather", what is the setting?

Short Essay Questions

1. In "The Adventure of a Reader", what does Amedeo like to do?

2. In "The Adventure of a Bather", what does the bather lose and what does she do?

3. In "Dollars and the Demimondaine", how does Emanuele try to get Jolanda out of the bar?

4. In "The Adventure of a Nearsighted Man", what has the man been avoiding and why?

5. In "The Adventure of a Poet", what inspires Usnelli to write poetry?

6. In "The Adventure of a Bather", who finally helps the bather?

7. In "The Adventure of a Poet", what does Usnelli see that is beautiful? How does he feel about it?

8. In "Theft in a Pastry Shop", how do the thieves escape?

9. In "The Adventure of a Photographer", why doesn't Antonino like amateur photographs?

10. In "The Adventure of a Nearsighted Man", what is the man's problem and how does he fix it?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Italo Calvino is a critically acclaimed author.

Part 1) Describe Calvino's popularity and place in history as a writer.

Part 2) Explain why he was and still is pivotal to contemporary literature.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the use of comic relief in the stories of "Difficult Loves."

Essay Topic 3

Explore and discuss Calvino's writing style as exhibited in "Difficult Loves", perhaps mentioning

A) Narration

B) Use of details

C) Characters

D) Time period and

E) Pace

and making sure to cite examples from the text.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 653 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample