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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. Grant's colleague and others like him are described as spending "every night on" what objects with their "bewitching young mistresses" (285)?

2. What is NOT a virtue Grant names as being part of the character of "a philanderer" (286)?

3. Meadowlake has a rule that no one can move into the facility during which month of each year?

4. What activity does Grant undertake to get exercise after Fiona's move to Meadowlake?

5. What kind of beverage does Fiona offer to Grant when he visits her for the first time at Meadowlake?

Short Essay Questions

1. In what ways does Grant consider his own past infidelities to be different from those of other "husbands and fathers" (284)?

2. What gift does Grant bring to Fiona when he visits her at Meadowlake for the first time, and what is significant about the gift?

3. What is the symbolism of the yellow notes Grant had started to find around the house?

4. What details lead the reader to conclude that Fiona and Grant's marriage had positive qualities?

5. In what month does Fiona move into Meadowlake and why?

6. What would Grant have considered the ultimate price to pay for his adulterous ways?

7. What were the circumstances that led to the engagement between Fiona and Grant?

8. For how long had Fiona and Grant lived in their home at the time when Fiona began to show signs of dementia and why is this detail significant?

9. What comment does Fiona make on the way to Meadowlake that makes Grant want to turn the car around?

10. What is the function of Grant's colleague within the context of the story?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss Munro's choice to tell the story of "The Bear Came Over the Mountain" using a third person omniscient narrator who knows all about Grant’s most private thoughts, feelings, and actions. What elements of the story's themes lend themselves to this choice and what are Munro’s intended effects on the reader?

Essay Topic 2

Determine Munro’s message within the story "The Bear Came Over the Mountain" regarding the subject of marriage.

Essay Topic 3

What is the function of Kristy's character within the story? Discuss the characterization methods used by Munro in depicting Kristy and include in your discussion the reasons that Munro portrays Kristy in these particular ways.

(see the answer keys)

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