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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What work does Salvatore do when he settles home after returning from military service?
(a) He works with his mother cleaning houses.
(b) Fishing and working on his father's vineyard.
(c) He works as a cook for a wealthy family.
(d) He refused to work and just hangs out on the beach.

2. What simile is used to describe Salvatore's hands while he bathes his children?
(a) Like sandpaper.
(b) Like flowers.
(c) Like cold stones.
(d) Like buzzing bees.

3. Where did Salvatore go to have a good look at Assunta before deciding whether he would marry her or not?
(a) The beach.
(b) Her house.
(c) Church.
(d) The cafe.

4. How is Assunta described physically?
(a) Unkempt and scraggly.
(b) Heavy-set but jolly.
(c) Beautiful and delicate featured.
(d) Unattractive and old-looking.

5. What would Salvatore do when his rheumatism made it impossible for him to work?
(a) Drink till dawn.
(b) Lay in his bed.
(c) Rest on the beach.
(d) Sob in the dark.

6. How does Salvatore feel toward his ex-fiance after learning they will not marry?
(a) He hates her.
(b) He feels betrayed.
(c) He understands why she cannot marry him.
(d) He feels honored to have had her love at all.

7. What does Salvatore's mother tell him about a woman named Assunta a few months after he returned from military service?
(a) She has been saying terrible things about him.
(b) She knows how to cure his rheumatism.
(c) She wants to marry him.
(d) She has a well-paying job for him.

8. How does the narrator describe Salvatore's manners after marrying Assunta and moving to their home?
(a) Aristocratic.
(b) Beautiful.
(c) Barbaric.
(d) Peasant-like.

9. How is Salvatore's laughter described when he bathes his child?
(a) Like the devil.
(b) Like an old man.
(c) Like a child.
(d) Like an angel.

10. How many children did Assunta and Salvatore have?
(a) Four.
(b) None.
(c) Two.
(d) Eight.

11. Why did Assunta not marry the man to whom she had been engaged?
(a) He left her for another woman.
(b) He walked out on her and never returned.
(c) She ended the engagement when she learned he had cheated.
(d) He was killed during military service.

12. What rare quality does the narrator say he was trying to paint a portrait of in his story "Salvatore"?
(a) Courage.
(b) Evil.
(c) Honesty.
(d) Goodness.

13. Who does Salvatore cry to when he returns home after learning he is not to be married to the girl he loved?
(a) His brother.
(b) His mother.
(c) His father.
(d) His best friend.

14. What did foreigners say about Italian fishermen when they saw Salvatore on the beach?
(a) They were hard workers.
(b) They were lazy devils.
(c) They were the salt of the earth.
(d) They were unfortunate peasants.

15. What simile is used to describe Salvatore's hands when he is not bathing his children?
(a) Like loaves of bread.
(b) Like clouds.
(c) Like legs of mutton.
(d) Like bricks.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why does Salvatore's fiancé say she can no longer marry him?

2. What word is used to describe the size of the "white-washed" house Salvatore and Assunta buy?

3. What did Salvatore tell his mother after he took a good look at Assunta?

4. What was Assunta able to purchase for Salvatore if they married?

5. What did Salvatore do for work when he was not fishing after he married and had children?

(see the answer keys)

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