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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. Whom did Assunta have "nothing but harsh words for" (7)?

2. How does the narrator describe Salvatore's manners after marrying Assunta and moving to their home?

3. What did foreigners say about Italian fishermen when they saw Salvatore on the beach?

4. Where did Salvatore go to have a good look at Assunta before deciding whether he would marry her or not?

5. Who does Salvatore cry to when he returns home after learning he is not to be married to the girl he loved?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happened to Assunta's fiancé?

2. What does the narrator say he set out to do in the story?

3. How is Assunta described after she and Salvatore marry? What does she look like? What type of person is she?

4. What did Salvatore do for work after he and Assunta married?

5. Why does Salvatore understand that the girl he loves will not marry him?

6. What would Salvatore do if his rheumatism became too bad for him to work?

7. How did Salvatore's family learn he was not going to marry the girl he loved?

8. Though Salvatore found Assunta physically unattractive, what could she offer him if they married?

9. What did Salvatore's fiancé tell him "with the blunt directness of her race" (5) when he went to see her at her home after he returned rom military service?

10. Describe Salvatore washing his babies near the end of the story?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay exploring the significance of gender in "Salvatore." How does gender influence behavior in the story?

Essay Topic 2

Pick a character from the story and discuss their goals and motives. Do they achieve their motive? Do they share similar goals and motives with other characters?

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay describing the narrator's view of Salvatore. Use direct examples from the text to show what the narrator thinks of Salvatore.

(see the answer keys)

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