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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. The author of August 25, 1983 hails from where?
(a) United States.
(b) Germany.
(c) Spain.
(d) Argentina.

2. Where is the university student in La Volpaia heading to by train?
(a) Germany.
(b) Italy.
(c) France.
(d) Russia.

3. Who makes an effort of reading Isaac Babel's short stories, though she does not understand them in Homage to Isaac Babel?
(a) The narrator.
(b) Philip.
(c) Jessica.
(d) Catherine.

4. Who wrote Death of the Right Fielder?
(a) Jorge Luis Borges.
(b) Leslie Norris.
(c) Stuart Dybek.
(d) Julio Cortázar.

5. Where is the university student in La Volpaia departing by train?
(a) France.
(b) Italy.
(c) Switzerland.
(d) England.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Freddie explain her biological father is in An Insolvable Problem of Genetics?

2. When was the author of Weather in San Francisco born?

3. The old woman in Weather in San Francisco orders how much meat at the butcher's?

4. Who is the author of Happy Endings?

5. What does the gypsy's monkey bring to him in On Hope?

Short Essay Questions

1. What event has taken place in the beginning of Death of the Right Fielder? What actions do the characters take?

2. What is the setting of The Falling Girl? Who is the central character and what action does she take in the beginning of the story?

3. What is the girl given in The Grasshopper and the Bell Cricket? Why is she excited?

4. What happens once the inflatable elephant is built in The Elephant?

5. What is the central theme in At the River? How is this manifested in the central characters?

6. Who is the central character in On Hope? What does his monkey bring to him?

7. Who is the central character in Love, Your Only Mother? What does she receive regularly in the mail?

8. What is the central plot in The Elephant? Why does the protagonist choose to build an inflatable elephant?

9. What is the older Borges doing in August 25, 1983? What is the reaction of the younger Borges?

10. Describe the themes and political motif in One of These Days. What other story in the collection shares similar themes?

(see the answer keys)

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