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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 Grandmother dress so smartly?

2. What is the name of Bailey's oldest son?

3. What does Grandmother tell a story about?

4. How many times does Bailey say they can stop after visiting the plantation?

5. What kind of game do the children play?

Short Essay Questions

1. In what way is it ironic that the Grandmother decided to take the cat on the trip?

2. Why do you think both Grandmother and Mother remain unnamed throughout the book?

3. Do you think Grandmother is really that worried about meeting the Misfit in Florida?

4. Is it significant that the Misfit puts on Bailey's shirt?

5. Describe the character of June Star

6. In what way does the Grandmother foreshadow their deaths?

7. What do you think Misfit's relationship is with women?

8. Describe the Misfit's appearance?

9. In what way does the Grandmother change moments before she dies?

10. What does it say about Grandmother that she cannot keep Misfit's name to herself?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe the Misfit's time in jail. How do you think it affected him? Does O'Connor portray his time in jail as a help to him? What does it say about the state of prisons in the fifties?

Essay Topic 2

O'Connor uses many similes. What effect do the similes have on the tone of the story? How and when does she use them? Take two examples and imagine similes were not used at that point. How does the story's meaning change?

Essay Topic 3

O'Connor does not give either the mother or Grandmother real names. What is the reason O'Connor does not give them names? Why do you think only the female characters do not have names?

(see the answer keys)

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