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

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

3. What simile is used to describe Salvatore's hands when he is not bathing his children?

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

5. What work does Salvatore do when he settles home after returning from military service?

Short Essay Questions

1. 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?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

9. What happened to Assunta's fiancé?

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

Write an essay examining the island of Ischia as a symbol in "Salvatore."

Essay Topic 3

Read a review of "Salvatore." Write an essay about how this review impacted your own views or understanding of the story.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 607 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample