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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 card game does Aubrey play with the other residents while Fiona sits nearby?

2. Grant recalls that he had quit smoking around the time of what event in his life?

3. When Fiona became interested in Iceland, she still did not plan to travel there and stated what reason for her choice?

4. Kristy tells Grant one day that which part of Fiona had been "deteriorating" (309) since Aubrey's departure?

5. When Grant describes the sexual revolution as an "epidemic," (302) what malady does he name?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe an instance when Munro uses a war metaphor to indicate the two themes of danger and excitement.

2. How does Grant find out that Fiona is not feeling well?

3. Describe the favor Fiona asks of Grant and why this is such a poignant moment in the narrative.

4. What is Grant's history with smoking cigarettes and why is the timeline significant?

5. What is significant about the way in which Grant's relationship with Jacqui ends?

6. What kind of work had Aubrey done before he stopped working and what method is used to deliver this information to the reader?

7. Which eras are included in the story of Grant and Fiona's marriage and how do you know?

8. How is Aubrey's malady different than Fiona's malady?

9. What does Kristy say when Grant asks what is the matter with Fiona?

10. For what reason does Grant try to explore the second floor ward at Meadowlake?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the significance of Alice Munro's choice of title for her short story entitled "The Bear Came Over the Mountain."

Essay Topic 2

What message does Munro send within the pages of "The Bear Came Over the Mountain" concerning the link between self-awareness and guilt?

Essay Topic 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

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