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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In "Food for the Common Cold," what is the cause of the terrible smell in David's mother's house?
(a) The drains are clogged with uneaten food.
(b) A turtle has crawled under the house and died.
(c) No one has taken out the garbage in several weeks.
(d) Someone has stuffed a rotten fish under the stoop.

2. In "In a Field of Stray Caterpillars," what does the burning chicken casserole demonstrate about the characters' lives?
(a) Even adverse circumstances sometimes provide a chance to laugh at the absurdity of life.
(b) Family relationships are a never-ending series of obligations, and sometimes not everyone gets what they need.
(c) People with a lot of chaos in their lives generally cause a lot of their own problems.
(d) Small everyday problems are more complex and can get out of control more quickly when you are working with limited resources.

3. In "Get Me Some Medicine," what technique is used in David's paraphrase of Fellis's questions: "How much he pays. How much he makes" (44)?
(a) Antithesis.
(b) Anaphora.
(c) Chiasmus.
(d) Antistrophe.

4. In "In a Jar," where does Frick place the yellow straw wrapped in red cloth?
(a) Underneath David's bed.
(b) Behind the front step.
(c) On David's windowsill.
(d) Above the door.

5. Why is Fellis feeling so sick?
(a) He has a respiratory virus.
(b) He has taken an unnamed street drug.
(c) He is exhausted and hypothermic.
(d) He missed his methadone dose.

6. What technique is used when David asks Fellis if Fellis wants him to "Tell the ice to let go" (3)?
(a) Personification.
(b) Synesthesia.
(c) Understatement.
(d) Verbal irony.

7. When "In a Field of Stray Caterpillars" takes place, how long has David been seeing Tabitha?
(a) Four months.
(b) One month.
(c) Three months.
(d) Two months.

8. In "Get Me Some Medicine," how has David been making money?
(a) Selling marijuana.
(b) Government disability checks.
(c) Working as a landscaper.
(d) Selling porcupine carcasses.

9. What selfless gesture does David make to comfort Fellis?
(a) He offers to cut his own hair.
(b) He offers to buy Fellis marijuana.
(c) He gives Fellis his own coat.
(d) He covers Fellis's hair with his own hat.

10. What is Frick's real name?
(a) Melvin.
(b) Charles.
(c) Everett.
(d) Fred.

11. In "Food for the Common Cold," what is revealed about how Frick's daughter died?
(a) She was in Frick's truck when it was hit by another vehicle.
(b) She developed a rare form of childhood cancer.
(c) She had an asthma attack after being out in the woods in winter for several hours.
(d) She had a serious respiratory virus that Frick ignored until it was too late.

12. In "In a Field of Stray Caterpillars," what movie are Fellis and David supposed to return?
(a) The Matrix.
(b) The Martian.
(c) Inception.
(d) Transcendence.

13. What is the implied reason that Fellis's lip is purple?
(a) He is sick.
(b) He is very cold.
(c) He is wearing lipstick.
(d) He has been in a fight.

14. In "Get Me Some Medicine," what is the real cause for Fellis dropping out of college?
(a) He felt overwhelmed and under-prepared for college classes.
(b) He decided to finally stand up to his mother and make his own decisions.
(c) He was the target of racial profiling there and felt unwelcome.
(d) He realized that he could use a pretend attempt at college to con the college out of money.

15. In "Food for the Common Cold," what is the name of the child in the pictures David's mother finds?
(a) Elspeth.
(b) Deidre.
(c) Corinne.
(d) Julianne.

Short Answer Questions

1. What technique is used when David says that no one has shoveled "since the last nor'easter crapped snow in November" (1)?

2. In "The Blessing Tobacco," what does the reader learn David's grandmother's first name is?

3. What is Fellis's mother's name?

4. In the context of "Burn," what is the most likely meaning of the term "skeejin" (1)?

5. What technique is used in "Get Me Some Medicine," when David says that "the lights were dim like honey" (41)?

(see the answer keys)

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