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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. Where does Edmund take the man he encounters on the street at the beginning of the story?
(a) Wickenden Street.
(b) Shamrock Street.
(c) Windemere Street.
(d) Ann Street.

2. Why are the children alone at the beginning of the story?
(a) They are orphans.
(b) A neighbor is looking after them.
(c) They are waiting for their aunt's return.
(d) Their parents are out for the evening.

3. Where does Peterson live?
(a) The American Apartments.
(b) The Hotel American House.
(c) The American Inn.
(d) The American Motel.

4. After Edmund's room is ransacked, what does Edmund tell Dupin about his stepfather, Mr. Rachett?
(a) He stole his mother's money and abandoned her.
(b) He is missing.
(c) He is a danger to Edmund and his sister.
(d) He was lost at sea.

5. What does Dupin want Edmund to find out at the docks?
(a) Whether Mrs. Powers will consent to Dupin's courting of Mrs. Whitman.
(b) Whether Captain Elias was involved in a murder.
(c) Whether Sis is hiding on a ship.
(d) Whether there's a ship called The Lady Liberty.

Short Answer Questions

1. When Edward goes to the saloon to buy supplies for himself and Dupin, according to the posted sign, who is offering a reward for the location of Mrs. G. Rachett?

2. In what month does the story begin?

3. What does Dupin asks Edmund to do when they first meet?

4. When Edmund enters his room with the food for himself and his sister, what state is his sister in?

5. What does Edmund's sister convince him to do in the Prologue?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Why do you think Dupin is so obsessed with death?

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

4. Based on the prologue, what do you think is the author's opinion of Poe as a writer?

5. Why do you think the author sets up the prologue so that all of Edmund's female family members are missing?

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

7. Why do you think Edmund continues to trust Dupin, even after reading in Dupin's notebook in Chapter Nine that Dupin thinks his story should end with Sis' death?

8. How do you think the character Dupin reflects the real-life Poe?

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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