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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 is Di Grasso's profession in the story with the same name?

2. Where did the narrator's uncle go and find a bride in Family Album?

3. Who is the cobbler awaiting in his shop in the beginning of The Shoe Breaker?

4. Who is the author of The Explosion in the Parlor?

5. The protagonist in Arrest Me wants to go to prison to do what?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is implied in the story The Verb To Kill? What do the central characters do in the narrative?

2. How do Di Grasso and The Street-Sweeping Show relate thematically?

3. What takes place in Katya? Who are the characters and what actions do they take in the narrative?

4. What activity is the father of Las Papas doing in the narrative? What does he teach his son?

5. Why does the central female character in Facing the Light send her servant away? What realization does she face?

6. How does the central theme and structure of Looking for the Rain God relate to other stories in the collection?

7. What does the central character in Arrest Me have as his objective? Why?

8. What physical ailment does the central character in Terminal suffer from?

9. How does the story The Model reflect the theme of aging?

10. How do the elderly couple in Mr. and Mrs. Martins prepare for death?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe the symbolism, characters and settings of The Book, Facing the Light and Lost Keys. How is the theme of aging represented in each of these works?

Essay Topic 2

Describe the setting, characters, and themes in An Insolvable Problem of Genetics. What about the setting informs the characters' racial bias?

Essay Topic 3

Describe the literary technique of imagery, metaphor, symbolism, and motif and identify each in Blackberries and Don't You Blame Anyone. How is the theme of the frailty of human interconnectedness reflected in these works?

(see the answer keys)

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