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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is Rip's dog's name?
(a) Wolf.
(b) Dutch.
(c) Bear.
(d) Dog.

2. Who is Peter Stuyvesant?
(a) The owner of the village inn.
(b) The village schoolmaster.
(c) A former governor of New York.
(d) Rip's neighbor.

3. On page 30, the reader learns that Rip is "obsequious" and his wife is a "termagant." What can accurately be said about their relationship?
(a) They have violent arguments with each other.
(b) One bullies the other.
(c) One is embarrassed by the other.
(d) They each have a skill that helps the other.

4. Who is the frame narrator of "Rip Van Winkle"?
(a) James Fenimore Cooper.
(b) Washington Irving.
(c) Geoffrey Crayon.
(d) Diedrich Knickerbocker.

5. What is Rip's son's name?
(a) John.
(b) Peter.
(c) Dutch.
(d) Rip.

6. On page 29, the narrator says that a person might have "descried" the smoke from the village. What does this mean a person might have done?
(a) Seen it.
(b) Complained about it.
(c) Explained its details.
(d) Been puzzled by it.

7. How might Rip's house be described?
(a) Filthy.
(b) Run-down.
(c) Expensive.
(d) Inviting.

8. What is Diedrich Knickerbocker's profession?
(a) Historian.
(b) Governor.
(c) Writer of novels.
(d) Farmer.

9. Where is the village that Rip lives in?
(a) At the foot of the Catskill Mountains.
(b) At the foot of the Appalachian Mountains.
(c) On the Atlantic coast.
(d) On the island of Manhattan.

10. Who is "Dame" Van Winkle?
(a) Rip's wife.
(b) Rip's sister.
(c) Rip's mother.
(d) Rip's daughter.

11. What is true of Rip's children in the beginning of the story?
(a) They are dangerously unsupervised.
(b) They are much more like their mother than like Rip.
(c) They are somewhat neglected.
(d) They refuse to speak to him.

12. Which nation controls New York at the time when Rip and the village are introduced to the reader?
(a) Sweden.
(b) Holland.
(c) Great Britain.
(d) The United States.

13. From the description of Rip's attitude to his farm, on page 30, what can be deduced about Rip?
(a) His farm is envied by many of his neighbors.
(b) He likes to make excuses instead of taking care of his responsibilities.
(c) He is devoted to his home and family.
(d) His attitude toward his own family is similar to his attitude toward the villagers.

14. What evidence does the frame narrator give that the main story's narrator is still well-liked?
(a) There is a children's rope-skipping rhyme about him.
(b) There is a street in New York named after him.
(c) His portrait is hung in many local schools.
(d) His picture is stamped onto new year's cakes.

15. Why does Rip stop spending time with his friends?
(a) His friends move away to a bigger town.
(b) His friends decide that he is too lazy to be friends with.
(c) His wife tells him he cannot spend time with them anymore.
(d) His wife yells at them constantly.

Short Answer Questions

1. When on page 31, the narrator refers to Rip's wife's nagging as a "torrent of household eloquence," what tone is created?

2. On page 29, the mountains are said to be "lording it over the surrounding country." This is an example of which literary technique?

3. In the frame narrative, the reader is told that the main story's narrator gets his information from the wives of the "burghers" (28). Whose wives are these?

4. When on page 31, the narrator says of Rip that he will "eat white bread or brown," how is Rip being characterized?

5. Who is Derrick Van Brummel?

(see the answer keys)

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