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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. How much time does Jim Timothy give the congregation to take him up on his offer?

2. What kind of suit is Jim Timothy wearing in church?

3. What does the mother who performed surgery on her own son say saved him in "Based Upon a True Story"?

4. What do the Cottinghams give the beggar the first time?

5. What does Jim Timothy use as an example of waiting for a good offer?

Short Essay Questions

1. Whose performance receives the only compliment from Thaddeus Bristol?

2. What does the narrator discover happens to his sons after he gives them to the beggar?

3. What does Thaddeus Bristol see as the irony in the Christmas pageants he critiques?

4. What is particularly disturbing about Beth's medical contributions?

5. What is Jim Timothy's definition of Art?

6. What does Jim Timothy offer the members of the congregation if they help him?

7. What is the purpose of the narrator's Christmas card in "Christmas Means Giving"?

8. What is the premise of 'Front Row Center with Thaddeus Bristol "?

9. What happens one Thanksgiving when a beggar knocks on the narrator's door in "Christmas Means Giving"?

10. Who is Jim Timothy?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the impact of the setting has in each story for creating the mood and context of the narrative.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss both the narrative tone and structure of these stories and their impact on the reader's experience.

Essay Topic 3

What is the moral ambiguity demonstrated in "Based Upon A True Story"? How does Jim Timothy represent the gray areas of the modern entertainment media?

(see the answer keys)

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