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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. In "The Quiet Car," how far from the beach is the house that the narrator rents?

2. In "Cloudland," when the narrator was in Maine, what was a young girl taking a picture of?

3. In "Cloudland," where did the narrator used to live?

4. What did the narrator's attacker threaten her with, in "The Correct Grip"?

5. Where does the narrator remember having her baby, in "Cloudland"?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the narrator see in her backyard in "Moonbow," and what does she think it is?

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

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

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

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

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

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

8. What does the white cross commemorate that is on the grassy median where the narrator turns to get to her house in "Cloudland"?

9. What requests did Bob make before he died?

10. In "The Correct Grip," what happened to a friend of the narrator?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The stories “Fort Bedd” and “Four Calls in the Last Half Hour” reveal different ways of dealing with intimacy and loneliness. How do characters deal with intimacy and loneliness in the two stories? What do the stories reveal about different ways of dealing with intimacy and loneliness?

Essay Topic 2

The author uses different points of view in the stories. What points of view are used in the various stories? How do these points of view affect what the reader knows and feels about situations and characters?

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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