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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. What kind of book does the person Edmund sees at the cemetery drop?
(a) A prayer book.
(b) A Bible.
(c) A mystery story.
(d) A notebook.

2. At the docks, who is Edmund pursued by?
(a) Someone he never sees.
(b) A man with white hair.
(c) A man with dark hair.
(d) A ghost.

3. What does Dupin NOT tell Edmund about his mother?
(a) She sent an urgent message to her sister.
(b) She followed her husband to Providence.
(c) She is dead.
(d) She has been held captive by Rachett.

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

5. What does Dupin find in the mausoleum?
(a) A coffin.
(b) A sleeping bag.
(c) Edmund's sister.
(d) A straw mattress.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Poe's style of courting Mrs. Whitman reflect?

2. What does Dupin NOT tell Edmund about Arnold's classified ad?

3. What do Poe's actions at the end of the novel demonstrate?

4. What does Poe believe about Edmund's sister's ultimate fate?

5. When Edmund figures out where his sister is, who accompanies him to rescue her?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What can the reader learn about the real-life Poe in this novel?

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

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

5. Why do both Dupin and Edmund frequently believe they have seen ghosts?

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

7. How does the final chase scene in Chapter 21 differ from the rest of the novel?

8. 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?

9. What is the symbolism in Chapter 19 of Poe's belief upon seeing Edmund and his mother that his characters have come to life?

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

(see the answer keys)

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