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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. At what cost does Paul believe he must keep his secret?
(a) At whatever pain it causes to others.
(b) At whatever joy it brings others.
(c) At whatever confusion it brings others.
(d) At whatever embarrassment it causes to others.

2. What does Paul imagine while looking through his window?
(a) That he can see his mother.
(b) That he can see himself.
(c) That he can see his father.
(d) That he can see his bedroom wall.

3. What has happened to the river as Paul crosses it on his way home?
(a) It has become dirty.
(b) It has flooded.
(c) It has frozen.
(d) It has dried up.

4. In Part 2, what does Paul find desirable as it relates to his parents?
(a) To ignore them.
(b) To disobey them.
(c) To belittle them.
(d) To be kind to them.

5. How does Paul describe the way his shoes walk on the pavement?
(a) Scarcely.
(b) Obediently.
(c) Loudly.
(d) Disorderly.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Paul feel at the end of Part 2?

2. How many posts are at the gateway Paul encounters?

3. What does Paul contemplate about the following morning in Part 2?

4. As Paul remembers, how many times does his mother ask him to pass the plate at the luncheon table?

5. What does Paul's mother tell him might need to be done?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Paul think happened when the dog walked through the wet cement?

2. Why does Aiken choose to set the story in Paul's mind?

3. How does the snow take over Paul's room, according to the author's description?

4. What are two examples of how Paul views the outside world on his walk home from school?

5. What is the first thing that the doctor does, and how does Paul respond to it?

6. How does Paul answer the doctor's repeated questions about his problem, and what is important about the way his mother reacts?

7. How does Part 3 end, and what is the new sound that Paul hears?

8. What is the advertisement for in the newspaper Paul finds in the gutter?

9. What is it that the snow informs Paul he will see, and why?

10. What does the snow do for the first time in Part 3, and what does this represent?

(see the answer keys)

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