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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does the peasant say in response to his behavior in "An Alpine Idyll"?

2. What animal is the American woman in "A Canary For One" bringing her daughter?

3. In "Ten Indians," who won the ball game they had gone to see?

4. What does idyll mean in reference to "An Alpine Idyll"?

5. In the story "A Canary For One," what is the name of the hotel that the American woman and the couple have stayed at in the past?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does the third soldier in "Today is Friday" not want to drink with the others?

2. What was the reason that the peasant needed to store his wife’s body until the weather changed in "An Alpine Idyll"?

3. Why do the innkeeper and the sexton call the peasant a beast in "An Alpine Idyll"?

4. What are the three soldiers discussing while they drink in "Today is Friday"?

5. What do Nick and the Garner boys see on their trip back from the Fourth of July festivities in "Ten Indians"?

6. Why does Nick think about trout streams and say prayers at night in "Now I Lay Me"?

7. What is the publication that the narrator of “Banal Story” is reading while Manuel lays dying and what types of articles are in the publication?

8. In "Now I Lay Me," when thinking about fishing and trout streams, and praying for all the people has known do not work to help him get to sleep, what does he resort to?

9. What does Nick’s orderly John tell him every man must do in "Now I Lay Me"?

10. In "Now I Lay Me," how does Nick think that John would react if he saw him after he had been released from the hospital?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay in which you describe Hemingway’s narrative tone. Select one specific adjective and then use one or two of the short stories to support your argument.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay explaining the author’s choice to write 14 short stories instead of one cohesive whole. What purpose does the narrative structure serve in creating characters and portraying events? What message does he hope to leave the readers with?

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay explaining the author’s development and use of the theme of loneliness and detachment from war. What suggestion does the author make about war and its repercussions? How does he use people to strengthen this theme?

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