View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What was served to eat for Sunday dinners when the narrator in "Cloudland" was in a home waiting to have her baby?

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

3. How many days a week does the narrator of "Cloudland" work?

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

5. In "Cloudland," what part of town is known as Lightning Alley?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Why is the narrator's neighbor arrested in "Cloudland"?

3. At the end of "Cloudland," what does the narrator say about apples?

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

5. What is karst and its hazards?

6. In "Cloudland," when there is to be a freeze, what advice does a nursery clerk give the narrator?

7. In "Moonbow," what does the narrator see and why is it unusual?

8. How did the narrator of "Cloudland" compare her experiences when she had her baby with the experiences of women a hundred years ago?

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

10. What does the narrator in "Water Damage" learn about the home where she had her baby?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Emotional distance can interfere with a relationship. In what way are relationships in “The Chicane” superficial? How are the characters emotionally distant from one another? How does emotional distance interfere with the relationship characters have with one another?

Essay Topic 2

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 3

The house in “Cloudland” is decaying and needs a lot of repairs. In what way is the house an analogy for the narrator’s state of mind?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 832 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample