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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why are rams' horns being blown all around the city?
(a) It is Yom Kippur.
(b) It is Rosh Hashanah.
(c) It is Sukkot.
(d) It is Hanukkah.

2. What is it logical to infer about the church women who are wearing red?
(a) They are collecting the offering.
(b) They are ushers.
(c) They are the choir.
(d) They are worship leaders.

3. What technique is used in the phrase "the stink of burning hair, fur, and horn" (19)?
(a) Onomatopoeia.
(b) Synesthesia.
(c) Assonance.
(d) Imagery.

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) Her thoughts about religion.
(c) The water level.
(d) Her distance from the city.

5. What detail in the description of the man indicates how ill he feels?
(a) The color of his face.
(b) The sounds he is making.
(c) The smell coming from his skin.
(d) The way his ribs protrude.

6. 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 not Black.
(b) She is Jewish.
(c) She is White.
(d) She is not a Christian.

7. On her train ride, what does the woman realize she has not given much thought to?
(a) The newscasters.
(b) Her friend's illness.
(c) The devil.
(d) Her next story.

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

9. Why does the main character find that the story she is working on is not an easy one to write?
(a) It is about death.
(b) It is about friendship.
(c) It is about religion.
(d) It is about fear.

10. What technique is used in the sentence: "The story is flat and even, just as the earth seems flat and even when a hurricane is advancing over it" (19)?
(a) Simile.
(b) Personification.
(c) Allegory.
(d) Allusion.

11. What color is the light in the man's bedroom?
(a) Yellow.
(b) Grey.
(c) Purple.
(d) Blue.

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

13. In what religion are the High Holy Days a sacred time?
(a) Hinduism.
(b) Islam.
(c) Judaism.
(d) Christianity.

14. The man tells the woman that he has committed "blasphemy" (20). What has he done?
(a) Contemplated suicide.
(b) Cursed God's name.
(c) Told a harmful lie about someone.
(d) Shown disrespect to God.

15. What specific Biblical story does the writer focus on?
(a) Jonah and the Great Fish.
(b) Noah's Ark.
(c) The Trials of Job.
(d) The Garden of Eden.

Short Answer Questions

1. Besides reading the Bible, what else does the woman spend her time doing in the period of time her story is about?

2. After completing her first draft of the story, what does the woman realize about it?

3. What does the hurricane do to the city in the woman's story?

4. What denomination is the last church that the woman visits?

5. In the story's opening sentence, what is implied about the main character's writing?

(see the answer keys)

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