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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 happens when the three older boys go inside?

2. At a cafe, how does the narrator identify himself?

3. What does the narrator do when he finds the men who may have been his father?

4. Who is trying to attack Amelia as she hides in the woodcutter's cottage?

5. What is scary about the playhouse door?

Short Essay Questions

1. Is Amelia a sympathetic character?

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

3. Who tells the story about the playhouse in 'Closing Time,' and what evidence is there that this person is the storyteller?

4. Why does the writer in 'Forbidden Brides...' enjoy writing about Amelia making toast?

5. Why does the narrator see a Haitian coffee girl at the end of the story?

6. Why does Runt decide to go into the farmhouse at the end of October's story?

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

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

9. Describe the character of Mr. Alice.

10. Describe the things that happen to the character Amelia Earnshawe in 'Forbidden Brides...'

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What kinds of fragile things can be found in the stories and poems in this collection? What do they symbolize or represent? Why are they fragile, and how has the author communicated this sense of fragility?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss lessons in the stories and poems in this collection. Which poems and stories contain a moral? What kinds of morals or lessons are taught, and are they repeated in different stories? Do you think this is the author's own view?

Essay Topic 3

Do you enjoy Neil Gaiman's writing? Justify your answer by using examples from the text. Include in your discussion the author's use of language, meaning, characterization, symbolism, and metaphor. Use at least three stories and poems from this collection in your response.

(see the answer keys)

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