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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. What does the man in "Fort Bedd" want the narrator to tell him?

2. In "Four Calls in the Last Half Hour," at what percent could everyone be if those who have more would give a little?

3. In "Fort Bedd," what is the narrator's first choice of tree to buy?

4. How many dogs did a vet tech kill by mistake because their six-digit ID numbers were one digit off in "A Full Service Shelter"?

5. Where does the narrator of "Greed" find an apple core after she throws it it into pachysandra?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the narrator treat the death-row dogs?

2. What does the narrator say about the affair between Syd and a married man?

3. What does the narrator do when Syd returns in "I Stay with Syd"?

4. What does the narrator want to tell her aunt Lauryn, even though she is gone?

5. What does the narrator need to get through the man's dying in "Fort Bedd"?

6. In "Four Calls in the Last Half Hour," what does the narrator say about the man and his actions?

7. Why did Lauryn try to commit suicide in Madrid, and why did she survive?

8. In what way is the story of the lamb a story of seduction?

9. In "The Chicane," what does the narrator say about going to a film?

10. What do the dogs know about the narrator and other volunteers regarding food?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In “I Stay with Syd,” two characters are having an affair. How would you describe the relationship between Syd and the married man? What does their relationship seem to be built upon, and how will that foundation affect their relationship?

Essay Topic 2

In “Cloudland,” the narrator used to teach at a girls’ school. What caused the narrator to lose her teaching job? What does her mistake reveal about the narrator’s ability to use good judgement? Why does the narrator struggle to make good decisions?

Essay Topic 3

The narrator in “Cloudland” had a baby when she was a teenager. How has the birth of the child affected the narrator’s emotional state throughout her life? When does the narrator begin to realize that she has been carrying the trauma and pain from the birth ever since? How does this realization help the narrator let go of the past?

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This section contains 938 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample