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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 do the kidnappers plan to use Edmund's sister?
(a) As a bargaining tool.
(b) As an accomplice.
(c) As a seamstress.
(d) As a servant.

2. What does Edmund realizes about the meaning of the word "Sunrise" in the decoded message?
(a) It is a drink.
(b) It is a picture.
(c) It is a story.
(d) It is a ship.

3. What does Poe tell Edmund about his sister at the end of the story?
(a) She is a stronger person than Edmund.
(b) She will probably not live long.
(c) She did not display courage throughout her abduction.
(d) She would have lived longer in his story than in reality.

4. What does Throck ask Edmund about Poe?
(a) If he is looking for Edmund's sister.
(b) If he is getting the reward money for finding Edward's aunt.
(c) If he is getting the reward money for finding Edward's mother.
(d) If he is a drunkard.

5. Who does Dupin tell Edmund that Rachett has killed?
(a) Edmund's aunt, believing her to be Edmund's mother.
(b) Edmund's sister.
(c) Edmund's mother, believing her to be Edmund's aunt.
(d) His partner, Peterson.

Short Answer Questions

1. While his mother sleeps, what does Edmund ask Poe to do?

2. At the docks, who is Edmund pursued by?

3. Why does Poe believe he will not marry Mrs. Whitman at the end of the novel?

4. What is in the prologue of Poe's story?

5. What does the style of the novel mimic?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why do you think the author has Poe share his thought process throughout the story, rather than saving all his insights for the end?

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

3. What is the symbolism in Chapter 19 of Edmund's grabbing Poe's story and threatening to rip it up if Poe does not help him?

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

5. What does Dupin mean in Chapter 16 when he tells Edmund that "lies have their own truth"?

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

7. What is the importance of the guests' discussion of whether it is possible to read a man's character from his face?

8. 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?

9. Why is it significant in Chapter 14 that Edmund first begins to doubt Dupin's detective skills after talking to Captain Elias?

10. What is the turning point Edmund experiences in Chapter 14?

(see the answer keys)

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