View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does the narrator say is an image an author might use when writing a story about Ocean City during World War II?

2. What does Ambrose’s father do for a living?

3. What does Ambrose imagine doing if he gets out of the funhouse on his own?

4. What does Ambrose imagine is at the end of the boardwalk in the future when he comes here with his family?

5. Why might an author in fiction delete a name and use a blank for it?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are Peter and Magda doing while Ambrose is in the Funhouse?

2. What does an elderly man say to Ambrose about how to enter the Funhouse?

3. What is Ambrose’s father doing while Ambrose is in the Funhouse?

4. What is Ambrose thinking about asking Magda when they are at the pool, and what does he decide?

5. What does Ambrose imagine about his son and what he might say to the boy?

6. How does Magda react to Ambrose taking her arm, and what does he want to tell her?

7. What do Peter and Uncle Karl try at the pool, and how does Ambrose’s mother react to their behavior? How is Ambrose involved in the situation?

8. Why does Ambrose think people don’t know what to make of him?

9. What is one reason the narrator says exists for not writing a lost-in-the-fun-house story?

10. Why does Magda win the traditional game in the car, and what does Ambrose’s mother say about her win?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Analyze and discuss what you think are the characteristics of a successful short story and why Lost in the Funhouse is or is not a successful short story based on your criteria. Do you think the criteria for a successful short story should be different if it is written for adults versus young adults?

Essay Topic 2

Often, authors will write about what they know, and sometimes knowing a little about the author makes the story more interesting. Research and give a brief biographical sketch of John Barth. Do you think there is always some of the author's own life in his/her short stories? Why or why not? Give examples. Name one idea/concept you think may have been a part of the Barth's agenda. Analyze that idea throughout the short story and discuss Barth's probable agenda concerning that idea.

Essay Topic 3

While lost in the funhouse, Ambrose wanders into some dark places and sees gears and levers and an old man who seems to be manipulating them. Compare Ambrose’s wandering through the funhouse to the normal confusion Ambrose feels as an adolescent who is not quite a child but not quite an adult.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 856 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample