View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

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

2. Where is the woman's landlady from?
(a) Jamaica.
(b) Barbados.
(c) Trinidad.
(d) Cuba.

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

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

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What detail in the description of the man's bedroom indicates how close the hurricane is getting?

2. Who is "thinking of writing a letter to the President" (20)?

3. Why are rams' horns being blown all around the city?

4. What specific Biblical story does the writer focus on?

5. Who is the author of "The Center of the Story"?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is the story that the woman is writing similar to the earth and different from a hurricane?

2. What is the woman's story about, and what is its major flaw?

3. When the woman is riding the train, after the hurricane has passed, what two realizations does she come to?

4. What contradiction does Davis's first sentence introduce?

5. What happens when the woman visits a Baptist church?

6. Who are the people in the story that the writer is working on?

7. Explain what the "yellow pall" is and what things in Davis's story it is attached to.

8. Why does the man in the main character's story think that he is dying, and what does he do about it?

9. What does the woman realize about her religious belief and the calm she feels?

10. What paradox related to religion does the woman encounter in writing her story?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 869 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample