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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 does the narrator of "Paranoid: A Chant" do to avoid cameras?

2. How did Richard get the word processor?

3. Who is Brent Norton?

4. What happens when Mike runs out to confront the Greek?

5. At what location do Homer and the narrator for "Mrs. Todd's Shortcut" sit and swap stories?

Short Essay Questions

1. "Word Processor of the Gods" could fit into several different genres. Which genre do you think it fits into best and why?

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 purpose of King's use of a "Wouldn't it be funny if . . . ?" beginning to his short stories? What do you think this method adds to or detracts from his stories?

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. Hyperbole is a figure of speech in which exaggeration is used for emphasis or effect; an extravagant statement. For example, "The sun was blindingly bright and hotter than ten thousand fires." Give an example of hyperbole from "The Wedding Gig" and give an explanation of why King uses it in this story.

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

7. Compare/contrast the two rooms in the PAT. Why do you think they are so drastically different?

8. "The Wedding Gig" is rife with metaphors, figures of speech in which an implied comparison is made between two unlike things that actually have something in common. For example, "Love is a rose" is a metaphor. Identify a metaphor from "The Wedding Gig" and identify the two things being compared.

9. 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?

10. 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.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

An epiphany is a sudden, powerful, and often life changing realization that a character experiences in an otherwise ordinary moment. Can you think of an epiphany in "Word Processor of the Gods"? What is the epiphany? How will it change that character's life?

Essay Topic 2

Using "Skeleton Crew" as your example, describe how Stephen King's writing style brought new fans to the horror genre. What does he use that most other horror writers don't? How does his incorporation of humor add to his stories? What do you think he does differently than other writers? What seems to be "textbook" about his approach to writing?

Essay Topic 3

Irony is the discrepancy between expectation and reality. Outline how the events that take place in "The Jaunt" are an example of irony.

(see the answer keys)

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