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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Section 1: The Center of the Story.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does the narrator say "usually promises to be interesting" (19)?
(a) A death.
(b) A hurricane.
(c) A religious crisis.
(d) A flood.

2. Who is "thinking of writing a letter to the President" (20)?
(a) The man who thinks he is dying.
(b) The woman at the church.
(c) The landlady.
(d) The main character.

3. For the majority of the story, what tone does the narrator adopt?
(a) Melancholic.
(b) Objective.
(c) Amused.
(d) Dismissive.

4. What detail of the woman's train ride reinforces the motif of things that come close to happening but do not actually happen?
(a) The direction she is traveling.
(b) The water level.
(c) Her thoughts about religion.
(d) Her distance from the city.

5. What can be inferred about the woman from the description of the women who try to get her to sit down at their church?
(a) She is Jewish.
(b) She is not Black.
(c) She is not a Christian.
(d) She is White.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does the woman suspect that the man believes about his blasphemy?

2. Where is the woman's landlady from?

3. Why was the woman reading the Bible during the period she writes about in her story?

4. What does the woman think might be preventing her from committing to a center for her story?

5. What is it logical to infer about the church women who are wearing red?

(see the answer key)

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