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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 Second Seating," what do the narrator and her friend order when they start over with their meal?

2. In "The Correct Grip," what type of dog does the narrator's friend have?

3. How old was the narrator in "Cloudland," when she had a baby girl?

4. In what state do you have to go north to be in the south, according to "Cloudland"?

5. What does the wife of the attacker suggest that she and the narrator do, in "The Correct Grip"?

Short Essay Questions

1. What was the narrator's job in New York, and why does she say that she left her job in this section of "Cloudland"?

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

3. In "Equivalent," why does the narrator ask the seller of her house to help with difficult chores when he comes by?

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

5. What is karst and its hazards?

6. How does the narrator hold her dog's leash and why in "The Correct Grip"?

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

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

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

10. Why is the narrator able to work two to three days a week in "Cloudland"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

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?

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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