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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 does the narrator say Ambrose feels about a funhouse?

2. What does Ambrose’s mother do for Uncle Karl in the car while they are driving to Ocean City?

3. What does the narrator say about Magda’s physical figure?

4. How much money does Ambrose’s mother give each teenager to spend?

5. What does Ambrose decide to do when he hears people in the corridor when he is lost?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is a traditional game the family plays when approaching the midway point, and what is the prize for the winner?

2. What does the narrator say is the best thing to do when one is lost, and what is the drawback to that action?

3. What is done in Ocean City because of U-boats and how is it done?

4. What advertises the funhouse that the family stares at, and what does Peter suggests when they are looking at it? What does Ambrose suggest?

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

6. 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?

7. Who does Ambrose think will overhear him telling stories while lost in the Funhouse?

8. In which section of the Funhouse does Ambrose take Magda’s arm, and why does he take her arm?

9. What does Ambrose’s mother give the three teenagers when they reach the boardwalk, and what does she say to them and why?

10. Describe Uncle Karl and Peter.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

When Ambrose is below the boardwalk he hears his family laughing above him. The narrator comments that if Ambrose was not old enough or smart enough to understand the joke he could have said: “The laughter was over his head.” Discuss what the author is attempting to do by including this commentary by the narrator about wordplay.

Essay Topic 3

Lost in the Funhouse belongs to the short story genre. Define the literary term "genre" and name three other genres in addition to the short story genre. What are the advantages and disadvantages of assigning a genre to literature? What is the difference between a short story and a novel or a play?

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