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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. Who accidentally gets the plate of poisoned food when Amelia tries to poison Marvin?
(a) Eddie.
(b) Ameila.
(c) Sara.
(d) Lymon.

2. In this story, McCullers intimates that a certain level of _____________ is part of life.
(a) horror.
(b) fear.
(c) absurdity.
(d) anxiety.

3. Frances believes she can never be ___________________.
(a) a mother.
(b) a teacher.
(c) an opera singer.
(d) a great pianist.

4. What literary technique does McCullers use when she addresses the ruined marriage between Amelia and Marvin and the future failed relationship between Amelia and Lymon.
(a) Simile.
(b) Metaphor.
(c) Foreshadowing.
(d) Alliteration.

5. Amelia and Cousin Lymon are both ____________.
(a) misfits.
(b) cousins.
(c) wealthy.
(d) teachers.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is Miss Amelia's physical appearance?

2. What beverage does Miss Amelia offer the men in her home?

3. In what month does the story take place?

4. To whom does Lymon seem attracted now?

5. What is the Harmonious Blacksmith?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who is Cousin Lymon and how does he enter Amelia's life?

2. What does the author reveal about Miss Amelia's character and personality?

3. What is the nature of the altercation between Martin and his wife, Emily?

4. What literary technique does McCullers use in telling this story and what tone does she set in accomplishing it?

5. How does Cousin Lymon ultimately betray Amelia?

6. How does the relationship between Amelia and Lymon compare to the one between Amelia and Marvin?

7. What is the dilemma the author writes about in the title of the story?

8. Why is John Ferris is a New York hotel and what seems to consume his thoughts?

9. How does John connect with his ex-wife, Elizabeth, while in New York?

10. What happens to Marvin after Amelia kicks him out of the house?

(see the answer keys)

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