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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 is the nickname that Mr. Holohan has in "A Mother"?

2. What does the man in the cycling suit in "Grace" give the injured man to revive him?

3. Who is the king during "Ivy Day in the Committee Room"?

4. What do the two neighbor girls of "Clay" bring to share with everyone?

5. According to "A Mother," who is the secretary of the Eire Abu Society?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the "plot" the Kernans' friends devise to bring some stability to Mr. Kernan's life?

2. In "Clay", how do Maria's acquaintances think of Maria?

3. How do the men in "Ivy Day in the Committee Room" react to Mr. Hynes's poem?

4. What scheme does Mr. Henchy devise for opening the beer bottles?

5. How does Mrs. Kernan deal with her husband's drinking bouts?

6. What does the group of men in "Ivy Day in the Committee Room" meet to discuss?

7. What injury does Mr. Kernan sustain in "Grace"?

8. What happens when Farrington returns to his desk after the first time in the story Mr. Alleyne reprimands him?

9. What do Mr. Duffy and Mrs. Sinico do when they visit?

10. Describe the quality of the concerts.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe Mrs. Kearney's actions in "A Mother" as relates to the social conventions for the economic class to which the other characters belong. Then, make a decision about whether she defended justice by demanding proper payment or whether she simply made a nuisance of herself in polite company. Defend your conclusions.

Essay Topic 2

Compare the ideals of the political heroes discussed in "Ivy Day in the Committee Room" with the actual behavior of the characters in the story. Who are the political heroes, and what ideals do they espouse? What are the characters in the story doing while they talk about those heroes? What is the irony that Joyce describes in the story?

Essay Topic 3

Describe the irony present in Joyce's choice of the title "Two Gallants" for a story about characters like Corley and Lenehan. What does "gallant" mean? In what ways are Corley and Lenehan gallant or not so gallant? Why do you think Joyce chose that title?

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