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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How does Edmund get home with the food for himself and his sister?
(a) He runs.
(b) By bicycle.
(c) By bus.
(d) He walks.

2. What does Dupin learn is the cause of Edmund's aunt's death?
(a) Undetermined.
(b) A murder.
(c) An accident.
(d) A suicide.

3. Poe's main character in one of his famous mystery books was the first to use a combination of ____.
(a) Forensic evidence and laboratory results.
(b) Wits, evidence, and the powers of reason.
(c) Humor and seriousness.
(d) Passion and reason.

4. What does Edmund buy for himself and his sister?
(a) Bread.
(b) Scones.
(c) Kidney pie.
(d) Meat.

5. The prologue introduces the reader to all of the following EXCEPT _____.
(a) The novel's's setting.
(b) A missing mother and aunt.
(c) Edgar Allan Poe.
(d) Edmund and his sister.

Short Answer Questions

1. The first time Edmund and Dupin go to the saloon together, what do they learn?

2. What does Edmund call his sister?

3. The book's prologue is particularly engaging for its target audience of _____.

4. Who is Auguste Dupin?

5. When they first meet, in exchange for Edmund's help, what does Dupin agree to do?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the setting reflect Edmund's emotional state?

2. Do you think Edmund should have stopped to help the old man before returning home?

3. What can the reader deduce about the real-life Poe from part one of the novel?

4. Why do you think the author decided to set up a mystery in the style of Edgar Allan Poe?

5. Do you think there is any significance to the author's choice of the name "Edmund"?

6. What is the significance of the absence of adults in the Prologue?

7. What does the author accomplish in part one by having Dupin tell Edmund that Edmund already has all the facts he needs to solve the crime?

8. Why do you think the author has Dupin tell Edmund that he has certain critical information, but refuses to share it with him?

9. Why do you think Poe chooses to go by the name of his fictional detective?

10. When Edmund sees Dupin asleep, surrounded by empty liquor bottles, in Chapter Three, what conflict does it bring about it Edmund's thinking?

(see the answer keys)

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