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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 type of salad do the narrator and her friends have, in "The Second Seating"?

2. In "Cloudland," what does the narrator see a girl wearing a turtleneck shirt doing on her lawn?

3. What does the narrator spill in bed, in "Moonbow"?

4. Where is an elderly man found in "The Quiet Car"?

5. At what temperature do the Blue Springs or Rainbow Springs remain all year around, according to "Cloudland"?

Short Essay Questions

1. In "The Second Seating," what do the narrator and friends have to eat and drink?

2. How does the narrator describe a painting titled "Water Damage," and how does the narrator like the painting?

3. What advice does the wife of the narrator's attacker ask in "The Correct Grip," and what advice does the narrator give?

4. In "Cloudland," what is the only race the narrator ever ran, and how does she describe the race?

5. How does the narrator describe the town where she lives in "Cloudland"?

6. In "Cloudland," what happens to the man arrested for sexual abuse?

7. Who does the narrator say is found in a weedy empty lot in "The Quiet Car"?

8. What requests did Bob make before he died?

9. In "Cloudland," what is the narrator's job, and what are some of her job duties?

10. What is karst and its hazards?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

After a woman is attacked in “The Correct Grip,” her attacker’s wife calls her. Why does the wife of the narrator’s attacker call her? How does the woman get the narrator’s phone number? What is revealed about the woman in the conversation she has with the narrator? What is revealed about resourcefulness and resilience through the woman?

Essay Topic 2

Mood is an element that authors use to evoke feelings in readers through the use of descriptive language. Mood is the overall feeling that readers have when reading a story. What is the overall mood of the stories and the book?

Essay Topic 3

In “Cloudland,” some characters are more thoroughly described than others. Who are some characters that are merely named in passing or have a minor role in the novel? What is the importance of these flat characters to the story line? In what way do these characters make the main characters more colorful or interesting? When there is conflict, what type of role do these flat characters play?

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