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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 scary about the playhouse door?

2. What happens the day after the narrator plays beautiful music on the instrument?

3. What is in the eighth room of the circus?

4. In 'Other People' what is the worst form of torture that the demon inflicts on the man?

5. Why does Inspector Lestrade visit them?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Why do you think the double bass allows him to play beautiful music this one time?

3. Is the playhouse evil or magical, or was it just the narrator's imagination?

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

5. Why do you think the narrator gives up his old life, and why does he pretend to be the professor?

6. Describe the character of Miss Finch.

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

8. What do you think the three older boys in the ghost story are?

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In some of the stories and poems in this collection, the author plays with characters and stories that belong to other authors and other books. Discuss one or two of these, and explain what he has changed and what he has left the same. Has he included any surprises or twists? Is the story or poem effective, or does it seem to have deviated too much from the feel of the original? What is the author trying to achieve with these stories? Stories and poems you could choose to discuss include 'A Study in Emerald,' 'Harlequin Valentine,' 'The Problem of Susan,' 'Goliath' and 'Inventing Aladdin.'

Essay Topic 2

How is fairyland represented in the stories and poems in this collection? What does the author have to say about magic?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the theme of identity in 'October in the Chair,' 'The Facts in the Case of the Departure of Miss Finch,' 'Strange Little Girls,' and 'Harlequin Valentine.'

(see the answer keys)

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