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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. What kind of car is the family taking to Ocean City?

2. On what is the old man Ambrose sees in the funhouse sitting?

3. What will Ambrose tell his son when his son becomes thirteen years old?

4. What does the narrator say should be the middle of a story about being lost in a fun house?

5. What is the name of the character who is advertising the funhouse?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

4. What happens to Ambrose’s father the first day, and what does his father have to do about it?

5. When thoroughly lost, what does Ambrose imagine happens to him in the Funhouse?

6. What does the narrator say is the reason a writer should stick with using the Freitag’s Triangle?

7. How does Ambrose know Magda and Peter have exited the Funhouse?

8. What did the hurricane of 1933 do to the Boardwalk?

9. 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?

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

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

Define plot and include the definitions of the most important elements of a plot. Do all short stories have a plot? Why or why not? Write a brief synopsis of the plot of Lost in the Funhouse, identifying where the various elements of the plot occur (Exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution or denouement). Do you find it difficult to identify the plot? Why or why not? What about the various elements of the plot? Give a brief synopsis of any important sub-plots.

Essay Topic 3

Choose two significant symbols and trace and analyze their appearance in Lost in the Funhouse. Are these universal symbols that would have the same meaning in any culture? What other symbols could portray the same idea? Why do you think Barth chooses the symbols he does? Consider symbols such as the Towers, Fat May, the Funhouse, and the oil in the ocean.

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