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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. Why did Assunta not marry the man to whom she had been engaged?

2. What simile is used to describe Salvatore's hands while he bathes his children?

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

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

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

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. 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?

4. What happened to Assunta's fiancé?

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

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

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

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

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

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 time in "Salvatore." What span of time does the story cover? How is the passage of time expressed?

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

Examine how fishing plays a part in the plot of "Salvatore."

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This section contains 616 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample