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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. Both Frances and the student in #78 have been dubbed ________________.

2. What magazine does Mister Lafkowitz point out to Frances?

3. What does the author call a meeting of men on Amelia's porch?

4. What is the physical manifestation of Cousin Lymon's outcast status?

5. In what area of the United States does this story take place?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What does Martin reason is the cause of Emily's alcoholism?

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

4. Why is Bitsy so bitter about his situation regarding his life compared to the lives of the rich men at the table?

5. What is the result of the one-sided relationship between Amelia and Cousin Lymon?

6. Compare and contrast John's life now with the new life Elizabeth has created.

7. What literary technique does McCullers use in mentioning Amelia's brief marriage to Marvin Macy?

8. What is Mr. Brook's first clue that Madame Zilensky may have mental issues?

9. What are some of the strange situations that Mr. Brook finds at Madame Zilensky's house?

10. How do Bitsy's advancing years and his friend's accident force him to face the reality of his life?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Explain the role of women in the rural South in the 1940s when the women in the novel are living their lives. What precedents do they feel compelled to follow? What restrictions do they have? What freedoms did they have that 21st century women do not have?

Essay Topic 2

Create a brief character study of Cousin Lymon. What does he look like? What are his positive personality traits? What are some of his negative characteristics? What are his hopes and fears? What motivates him, if anything, at this point in her life?

Essay Topic 3

The author uses more than one iteration on the motif of life-death-life. Identify at least two motifs about life-death-life in the book. Then cite an example to support each answer.

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