View a FREE sample

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 Chief drive?

2. What is Ginnie's full name?

3. Where is Muriel Glass' hotel located?

4. Who does Seymour call 'Miss Spiritual Tramp of 1948'?

5. Who graduates from college first, Mary Jane or Eloise?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Franklin do to make Ginnie look at him in a positive light?

2. What is Seymour hospitalized for?

3. Why are Mary Jane and Eloise good friends for each other?

4. Why does Ginnie suddenly forgive Selena's debt?

5. Why can the reader sympathize with Eloise more than envy her?

6. What happens with Seymour and the trees?

7. What does the floating red tissue represent in The Laughing Man?

8. What leads the reader to believe that tension is building throughout the story?

9. How does the reader know the setting takes place shortly after the end of World War II?

10. What indications does the reader have in the beginning of the story, Just Before the War with the Eskimos, that it is about a wealthy group of people?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Being a meditating child genius that is unaffected by emotion, Teddy is one of the more unique characters in the collection. Explore and analyze Teddy as a character. How does his age affect the story? How do you feel about his lack of emotion on any topic? What makes Teddy so different from the other characters Salinger creates in the collection?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss Salinger's use of sudden and tragic endings to some of his short stories. What do you like about them? What do you dislike about them? How do they contribute or take away from the collection as a whole and each story specifically? Do you think it is a powerful way to end the stories? Why or why not? Use examples from the book to explain your answers.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss irony as a theme throughout the Nine Stories collection. How is it used to create suspense, power and other emotions that are meant to draw the reader into the stories?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 882 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample