View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. For what reason, besides that "there may not be enough to tell about him," does the woman think that the man might not be the right "center" for her story (20)?
(a) The man will be angry that she wrote about him.
(b) This might not be the right time to tell his story.
(c) She is unclear about how she feels about the man.
(d) There is no real resolution to his story.

2. Besides reading the Bible, what else does the woman spend her time doing in the period of time her story is about?
(a) She calls each of her family members and friends.
(b) She shops for emergency supplies and fills her tub with water.
(c) She looks out the window and watches the news.
(d) She reads the Koran and the Talmud.

3. What detail does the story give about the shape of the tape on the windows?
(a) It is shaped like asterisks.
(b) It is shaped like diamonds.
(c) It is shaped like the letter "x."
(d) It is shaped like crosses.

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

5. 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) Allegory.
(b) Personification.
(c) Allusion.
(d) Simile.

6. What technique is used in the sentence: "Outside her apartment, the weather was changing: the wind rose, the branches swayed on the young trees, and the leaves fluttered" (19)?
(a) Parallelism.
(b) Non sequitur.
(c) Juxtaposition.
(d) Analogy.

7. 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.

8. Why does the man in the story feel so ill?
(a) He is having a heart attack.
(b) He has cancer.
(c) He has food poisoning.
(d) He has the flu.

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

10. In the story's opening sentence, what is implied about the main character's writing?
(a) She is losing interest in her career.
(b) She does not deserve the praise she has gotten.
(c) Her readers are gradually deserting her.
(d) More than one of her stories is uninteresting.

11. Why was the woman reading the Bible during the period she writes about in her story?
(a) Because she needed comfort during the hurricane.
(b) Because it was the High Holy Days.
(c) Because she wanted to use Biblical allusions in her writing.
(d) Because she wanted to know exactly what it said.

12. 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 White.
(c) She is not a Christian.
(d) She is Jewish.

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

14. What does the woman suspect that the man believes about his blasphemy?
(a) It is no one's business but his own.
(b) It caused the hurricane.
(c) It is the reason she is angry at him.
(d) It caused his illness.

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

Short Answer Questions

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

2. The man tells the woman that he has committed "blasphemy" (20). What has he done?

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

4. What does the sick man want when he calls the main character?

5. What does the landlady say the mayor gave her?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 745 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample