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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. Where does Georgeann work in order to help support Shelby as he attends seminary school in “The Retreat”?

2. The narrator states in “The Retreat” that when Georgeann married Shelby, her mother warned her about the disadvantages of marrying what?

3. Who does Sabrina think Edwin looks like in “A New-Wave Format”?

4. Joe has an antique walking stick that belonged to whom in “Graveyard Day”?

5. How frequently does Ruby see the man she’s dating in “Third Monday”?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why has Mary agreed to stay in her parents’ house in “Residents and Transients”? How does she feel about this setting?

2. How is Grover Cleveland described when Jack picked him out as a puppy in “Lying Doggo”?

3. What education did Georgeann and Shelby attain in “The Retreat”?

4. What is Edwin Creech doing in the opening of “A New-Wave Format”?

5. Why does Nancy return to her childhood home in “Nancy Culpepper”?

6. How is Nancy’s wedding described in “Nancy Culpepper”?

7. How are Nancy’s husband and son described in “Nancy Culpepper”?

8. How is Ruby’s relationship with Buddy described in “Third Monday”?

9. What does Jack say about the people he’s cared about that have died in “Lying Doggo”?

10. What does the narrator of “Residents and Transients” reveal in the beginning of the story? Who is the narrator?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe the setting of “Shiloh.” Where in Kentucky do Norma Jean and Leroy live? Why do they decide to go to Shiloh? How is this setting described? How does the setting of the story relate to the narrative?

Essay Topic 2

Describe and discuss the setting of “Offerings.” What imagery does the author employ in her descriptions of this setting? How does this setting relate to the settings seen in “Shiloh,” “The Rookers,” and “Detroit Skyline, 1949”?

Essay Topic 3

Describe and analyze the setting of “The Ocean.” How does the narrator describe the freeway in the beginning of the story? In what ways does the changing landscape in this story differ from the previous stories in the collection? What symbolism is used in the setting?

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