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. Curt has a poster of whom on his wall?

2. What serves as King's main character in his creative writing process?

3. What message does the Greek send to Mike?

4. What happens to Curt Garrish when he speaks with several of his peers on his way back to his dorm?

5. Who is Lina to Richard Hagstrom?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why do you think Charles calls the bathroom the basement in "Here There Be Tygers"?

2. Stephen King is apparently trying to make his reader think when reading "The Jaunt." Do you think King wrote this story with that challenge in mind, or do you think he wrote it for pure entertainment?

3. What is the significance of the "Execute" button on the word processor, and how does Richard feel when looking at that button for the first time?

4. In "Here There Be Tygers", Charles returns to his classroom casually after the deaths of his teacher and classmate. What do you think this implies about what Charles has just experienced?

5. In "The Monkey," what does the stuffed creature represent to Hal? What fears does it reawaken within him?

6. In "The Jaunt," Mark's family is destroyed by Mark's own deception. Given the reasons for his deception, do you think he was justified in his actions.

7. What is the implied source of the infestation in "The Mist"? How does he make this implication? What do you think King is trying to say with this implication?

8. The creator of the teleportation device used in the jaunt first experimented with mice. What is the significance of the first trip taken by the mice?

9. In "Word Processor of the Gods," what do you think about Richard's choice of his brother's family over his own? Is a choice made of faithfulness or greed?

10. The narrator seems to follow a theme throughout the story. What is the main theme the narrator displays?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The horror genre is one of the most uncomplicated forms of entertainment and is characterized by the author's effort to produce fear in the reader through the use of antagonists such as monsters, ghosts, or even feral animals. The basic concept is the same: the hero must fight against horrific forces for his life and often his soul. Choose one of the stories in "Skeleton Crew" and explain how it fits into the horror genre and how it follows the horror genre formula.

Essay Topic 2

In "The Mist," human sacrifice is presented as a potential solution to appease the creatures attacking the people in the grocery store? What do you think King is implying about human nature by suggesting this as an option?

Essay Topic 3

In "The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet," Henry is troubled by his strange friendship with an author named Thorpe. Almost as a joke, Henry encouraged Thorpe's paranoia about Fornits, tiny elf-like creatures. How did Henry's encouragement of Thorpe's fantasy lead to that fantasy invading Henry's life as well?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 961 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample