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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. Who is Franklin?

2. Who dies of cancer and weighs just 62 pounds in the story, Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut?

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

4. What does Seymour wear to the beach?

5. Who thinks Seymour is "manic?"

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the reader learn about Muriel's mother during the "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" story?

2. What is the issue with the book Seymour gives Muriel?

3. Why is Mary Jane part of the story, Uncle Wiggly in Connecticut?

4. Who is the Laughing Man?

5. Why does Muriel insist that Seymour isn't capable of harmful actions?

6. Who speaks the most during the story, Just Before the War with the Eskimos, and from who's point of view is the story told?

7. 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?

8. What makes the reader think that perhaps Eric is not allowed into the military because he is homosexual?

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

10. Why is the Chief so important to the boys?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Why is Nine Stories an important collection of short stories? What does it contribute to American literary history?

Essay Topic 2

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?

Essay Topic 3

In For Esme - With Love and Squalor, a young girl becomes a powerful leader in recovery for the narrator. Why is Esme able to be so helpful to a solider that is so adversely affected by the war? What simple acts help him most? Why isn't his family able to help as much as Esme? How does a 13-year-old that he meets one time leave such a lasting impression?

(see the answer keys)

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