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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. Why does the narrator kill the deputy head of the orphanage?

2. What happens to Miss Finch?

3. In October's story, who first nicknames the boy Runt, and why?

4. When they find a beautiful garden with a stream that looks like a fairy grotto, what does one of the boys do?

5. Why can the narrator not return to fairyland?

Short Essay Questions

1. Is Amelia a sympathetic character?

2. Describe the character of the detective in 'A Study in Emerald.'

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

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

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

8. In your opinion, what was Miss Finch's wish? Was it granted by the cabinet?

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

10. In 'Bitter Grounds' why does the man become a demon?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss vampires in the short story collection 'Fifteen Painted Cards From a Vampire Tarot.' How are vampires portrayed? What different kinds of vampires appear in the stories? Can vampires be viewed as symbols or metaphors for anything? Why is vampire fiction so popular?

Essay Topic 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

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