View a FREE sample

This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In the pageant incarnation described at the center of the narrative, who plays the role of Joseph?
(a) Elmer.
(b) Ralph.
(c) Leroy.
(d) Gladys.

2. What is NOT an element mentioned by the narrator as a quality the pageant Mary had always displayed?
(a) Ever-smiling.
(b) Otherworldly.
(c) Quiet.
(d) Dreamy.

3. What does the narrator mean when she says Mother told her "not to be so fresh" (26)?
(a) Mother told the narrator not to use so much hand soap.
(b) Mother told the narrator not be so quick to judge people.
(c) Mother told the narrator not to talk back.
(d) Mother told the narrator not to be so prim and proper.

4. On what day of the week does Mother say the pageant rehearsals will be?
(a) Saturdays.
(b) Thursdays.
(c) Wednesdays.
(d) Sundays.

5. What happens to rob the pageant of its real infant playing the role of Jesus?
(a) The baby gets chicken pox.
(b) The baby gets the mumps.
(c) The baby is adopted by a family.
(d) The baby is needed for another nativity pageant that night.

6. How many rehearsals in total does Mother say will take place before the pageant performance?
(a) 3.
(b) 10.
(c) 8.
(d) 5.

7. What is Alice's reply when Mother asks her the reason for her behavior during the choosing of parts?
(a) She says that she has stage fright.
(b) She says that she does not know.
(c) She says that her mother had wanted her to make a change.
(d) She says that Gladys had threatened her with violence.

8. What reason does Mother finally give Mrs. Armstrong so that she can get off the phone and cook the pork chops?
(a) She says there is someone else on the other line.
(b) She says that she is tired of Mrs. Armstrong's calls at supper time.
(c) She says there is someone at the door.
(d) She says that her husband is hungry.

9. What object does Ollie have to have surgically removed from his ear?
(a) A sprouted pussy willow.
(b) A kidney bean.
(c) A vitamin pill.
(d) A kernel of corn.

10. What do the Herdman siblings do once the fire department arrives at the church?
(a) They lie down in the street.
(b) They throw spitballs at the evacuees.
(c) They ask to help fight the fire.
(d) They leave.

11. At what time of day does Mrs. Armstrong always call the narrator's mother to discuss the pageant?
(a) Late at night.
(b) During supper.
(c) At noon.
(d) At the crack of dawn.

12. How does Mother feel about Mrs. Armstrong's announcement that she does not know how the pageant will turn out?
(a) Ashamed.
(b) Regretful.
(c) Angry.
(d) Frightened.

13. What kind of expression does Alice have on her face when she answers Mother's query about Alice's behavior during the assigning of pageant roles?
(a) She looks mad.
(b) She looks scared.
(c) She looks uncertain.
(d) She looks sheepish.

14. Who does NOT volunteer to be a Wise Man in the pageant in the year described by the narrator?
(a) Ollie.
(b) Elmer.
(c) Claude.
(d) Leroy.

15. Mrs. Wendleken uses what adjective to describe Mother's decision to allow a Herdman to play the role of Mary?
(a) Sacrilegious.
(b) Immoral.
(c) Insane.
(d) Heretical.

Short Answer Questions

1. By the time all of the parts are assigned in the narrative, most of the actors have what last name?

2. Mrs. Armstrong announces that however the pageant turns out, she will accept the what?

3. When the narrator states how she has always felt about Herod, what is something she does NOT say?

4. What action eventually taken by a Herdman sibling is said by the narrator to be "the one great big sinful thing Alice" (66) had been hoping for?

5. The narrator states that "the Herdmans started out mean, right from" (59) what?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 629 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample