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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does the older woman suggest the unwed mothers at the playground do in "Northeast Playground"?
(a) She suggests they mingle with the married mothers.
(b) She suggests they find rich guys to marry.
(c) She suggests they never marry.
(d) She suggests they apply for welfare.

2. What is Lavinia busy with when her mother visits at the end of "Lavinia: An Old Story"?
(a) Her two children.
(b) Her garden.
(c) Grading papers.
(d) Juggling two jobs.

3. What does Dennis want Alexandra to do when she tells him she is pregnant?
(a) Have an abortion.
(b) Pretend the child is someone else's.
(c) Move to the commune with him.
(d) Marry him.

4. What are Ruthy, Edie, and their friends celebrating at the end of "Ruthy and Edie"?
(a) Edie's birthday.
(b) Faith's divorce.
(c) The birth of Ann's first child.
(d) Ruthy's birthday.

5. What are Samuel and his friends doing at the start of "Samuel"?
(a) Begging for money on the subway.
(b) Jumping subway turnstiles.
(c) Jumping on the platform between subway cars.
(d) Playing poker on the platform between subway cars.

Short Answer Questions

1. What reminds the narrator of her mother standing in the doorway at the start of "Mother"?

2. What was Mr. Zagrowsky's occupation before retirement in "Zagrowsky Tells"?

3. How long has it been since Ruth has seen her daughter in "The Expensive Moment"?

4. What event trigged Cissy being sent to a psychiatric home?

5. Why does Carter want to use Charlie's apartment in "The Little Girl"?

Short Essay Questions

1. What conclusion does George come to after his pinball machine is rejected in "This Is a Story About My Friend George"?

2. Describe the story the narrator writes for her father when he asks for a simple story in "A Conversation with My Father."

3. Who is Philip In "Dreamer in A Dead Language"? Why does he want to meet Faith's father?

4. Who tells the American tourists they "do not love the Chinese people" (288) in "Somewhere Else"?

5. Compare and contrast the mothers at the playground in "Northeast Playground" to the mothers when the older woman was a young mother.

6. Why does Jack think his father was sleeping in a crib when he was young? Why does the narrator think he was doing this?

7. What happened to the young girls in "In the Garden"? What does someone tell the stranger they think happened?

8. What do the men on the subway think of when they see Samuel and his friends jumping on the platform?

9. What happens to Juniper in "Little Girl"?

10. What happened to Selena's daughter Abby? What did Tonto say about Abby at the end?

(see the answer keys)

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