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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. Who comes for the narrator right at the end of the story?

2. When he returns to the car and finds the man gone, what does the narrator find?

3. In 'Strange Little Girls' in the story 'Bonnie's Mother,' what has happened to Bonnie's mother?

4. What does the narrator talk to Miss Finch about in the refreshment room?

5. Who are the other three men at the club on the night they tell each other ghost stories?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is November upset at the end of the story, and how does October cheer him up?

2. In what ways could 'Good Boys Deserve Favors' be considered a coming of age story?

3. Do you think the gypsy woman in 'The Flints of Memory Lane' is a ghost? Did the boy imagine it all?

4. Describe how the detective solves the mystery in 'A Study in Emerald.'

5. In the last story in 'Strange Little Girls,' two alternate stories are offered about a woman who lived during the war. Which one offers the happier ending?

6. In the poem 'The Hidden Chamber,' is there anything that is actually hidden?

7. Why does the poet cast aside all his possessions and his old life in the poem 'Going Wodwo'?

8. What do the characters in 'Strange Little Girls' have in common?

9. Describe the character of Miss Finch.

10. Is there a 'bad guy' in the story 'A Study in Emerald'?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss characterization in two of the stories or poems in the collection. How has the author communicated what the characters are like, and how does he create sympathy for them? Do the characters act consistently? Do they seem like real people?

Essay Topic 2

What is the meaning of the playhouse in the story 'Closing Time?' Is it evil? Does it represent or symbolize anything?

Essay Topic 3

What is the 'Problem of Susan'? How does the author attempt to address it? Do you think he has succeeded? What do you think the author's opinion of the Problem of Susan is? What is your opinion and why?

(see the answer keys)

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