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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. When do they bury the player in Death of the Right Fielder?

2. The girl falling 30 meters above Marta in The Falling Girl is wearing what?

3. With what teenage cousin does the author go for a visit in Homage to Isaac Babel?

4. Who is the author of The Laugher?

5. In what voice and tense is Welcoming the Board of Directors written?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who is the narrator in An Insolvable Problem of Genetics? What information does the family learn from Freddie?

2. Describe the structure of Welcoming the Board of Directors. How does the author use metaphor in the narrative?

3. What is the central conflict facing the family in An Insolvable Problem of Genetics? How do they go about remedying it?

4. What do the boy and his father go to do after getting his new cap in Blackberries? What does this lead to?

5. How does On Hope end? Where is the gypsy in the end of the narrative?

6. How does the dentist get revenge in One of These Days? For what does he enact vengeance?

7. Who are the characters in At the River? What are they catching for food in the story?

8. What unifies the stories At the River, The Blue Jar, Gregory and Iguana Hunting?

9. What is the objective of the protagonist in The Laugher? When is he the happiest?

10. Discuss and describe the imagery in the story Blackberries. How does this imagery support the narrative's themes?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the themes and perspectives presented in Girl and The Other Wife. What elements of feminism can be seen in the themes of these works? How is this reflected in other writings by the authors?

Essay Topic 2

Describe and discuss the settings, characters, and themes presented in The Weather in San Francisco and Blue. What is Brautigan's most famous work and how does The Weather in San Francisco relate to it?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the violence depicted in Arrest Me, Orion and The Verb To Kill. How are rape, imprisonment, and murder represented in each of the narratives? How do they relate to the tone of the other stories in the anthology?

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