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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. When someone is holding a Free Hugs sign, Smith says the hugs are not free. What is one of the services Smith says the sign holder might be selling?

2. Despite Barbara insisting her dog is well-behaved, Smith says the dog does what to everyone who walks by?

3. What does the woman call Smith, which makes her realize she must know her?

4. Who does Smith say taught her “practical morality”?

5. At the start of “A Hovering Young Man,” Smith describes someone who looks enough like her to be her what?

Short Essay Questions

1. What example did Smith’s mother use when telling her via video conference that the lockdown has made people crazy?

2. What does Myron think of all the people leaving NYC based on the phone call Smith overhears in the ATM?

3. What does Smith admit is different between how public school closings impact Ben versus how they impact her family?

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

5. Who is Beck from “A Woman with A Little Dog”?

6. Why does Smith rarely get manicures and never get pedicures?

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

8. Which famous New Yorker did Smith read about at the start of the pandemic and reference in “A Character in a Wheelchair in the Vestibule”?

9. What does Smith thank Carol for in “Intimations: Debts and Lessons”?

10. Why does Smith say, despite her issues with institutions, that she is glad Cy is connected to one?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay exploring how Smith’s ideas about femininity and womanhood have evolved over time as expressed in “Peonies.”

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay expounding on the theme of contempt in “Post-script: Contempt as a Virus.” Include the examples of both British and American forms of contempt Smith describes.

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)

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