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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. Who does Smith say taught her “to be never finished thinking” (93)?

2. What does Smith say can be thought of as a virus due to the way it spreads in “Post-Script: Contempt as a Virus”?

3. About how old is Barbra in “A Woman with a Little Dog”?

4. What is the name of the story Smith wrote that includes the homeless man she sees at the ATM?

5. Who taught Smith “how to love...give...[and] grow up” (93)?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Smith say about the “ideal, rent-controlled city dweller” (49)?

2. What does Smith say she learned from or appreciates about her parents and brother in “Intimations”?

3. What does the man with the sign say in his email to the entire university community?

4. What are the two beauty treatments Smith will get and why?

5. How does Smith show that when she went to the ATM in the first story in “Screengrabs” it was early on in the pandemic?

6. Why does Smith say she would likely commit suicide on the first hour of the first day of an apocalypse?

7. What does Smith find interesting about the way in which the man with the sign projects his hate?

8. What does Barbara say to Smith just before she is heading her rental car to leave the city?

9. How does Smith describe the concept of British “class contempt” (74) in “Post-script: Contempt as a Virus”?

10. What does Smith say about her husband Nick in Intimations: Debts and Lessons”?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay exploring the pandemic’s significance on each story in Intimations. Include how the pandemic affects the overall mood of the collection.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay exploring theme of suffering in Smith’s essay, “Suffering Like Mel Gibson.”

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay analyzing the way in which Smith and her mother try to create some kind of normalcy during the pandemic lockdown in “An Elder at the 98 Bus Stop.” How do they interact? What do they discuss? How is this attempt at normalcy possible or impossible?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 625 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample