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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. When they return to Edmund's room after Edmund is attacked, what does Dupin tell Edmund to find?
(a) The newspaper the food is wrapped in.
(b) His notebook.
(c) His wallet.
(d) An encoded message.

2. When Edmund figures out where his sister is, who accompanies him to rescue her?
(a) Throck.
(b) Edmund's mother.
(c) No one.
(d) Poe.

3. What does Dupin remind Edmund that Edmund first noticed about his aunt's body?
(a) The body was too decayed to see clearly.
(b) Her hair was longer that Edmund remembered.
(c) She wore a strange dress.
(d) It was too dark to see her face.

4. While Dupin is at Mrs. Whitman's home, what does Captain Elias tell Edmund at the docks?
(a) Elias suspects Fortnoy of foul play.
(b) Fortnoy found the body floating in the harbor.
(c) Captain Elias found the body floating in the harbor.
(d) Elias witnessed Fortnoy committing murder.

5. What is Dupin surprised to learn that Captain Elias told Edmund?
(a) The S.S. Freedom does not exist.
(b) The Lady Liberty does not exist.
(c) Captain Elias was keeping watch at the time of the murder.
(d) Fortnoy was keeping watch at the time of the murder.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Edmund buy at the tavern for himself and his mother?

2. What kind of book does the person Edmund sees at the cemetery drop?

3. As they are saying goodbye, what does Edmund accuse Poe of being afraid of?

4. When introducing him to her guests, how does Mrs. Whitman refer to Dupin?

5. What does Edmund realizes about the meaning of the word "Sunrise" in the decoded message?

Short Essay Questions

1. If you were Edmund, how do you feel about Poe's assertion that Sis lives on longer in Poe's story than she does in real life?

2. Why do you think Poe drops the remainder of his story on the ground before walking away from Edward for the last time?

3. What is the symbolism, in Chapter 13, of Dupin's imagining that Helen's mothers guests are demons wearing masks of black death?

4. Why do you think the author has Edmund's mother demand both the divorce and her money, rather than just being satisfied with a divorce, when she first encounters her husband?

5. What is the significance, in Chapter 16, of Edmund throwing himself at a man with a gun?

6. Why do you think Dupin decides that his work is done after summing up the details of the solved mystery in Chapter 17?

7. Do you think Poe is a coward for giving up on marrying Helen because, as he says, too many timid people feel threatened by his power as a writer?

8. What does Dupin mean in Chapter 14 when he tells Edmund that "the story is over"?

9. Why do you think Edmund makes the final decision to tear up Poe's story before going to the docks to rescue Sis?

10. How does Edmund's character change by Chapter 18, compared to the Prologue?

(see the answer keys)

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