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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Which character came to cook Browny breakfast in the morning after he stayed at Josie's?

2. Who lives in The Children of Judea in "Faith in the Afternoon"?

3. What did Ellen's doctor tell her, though she swears it is untrue?

4. What does Faith vow to do after her son copies a protest sign in chalk at the playground?

5. What does Faith ask Ellen's son Billy at her funeral?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe John and his mother Dolly's relationship in "Distance." What details show you what their relationship is like?

2. Describe the setting in "The Used Boy Raisers." Where does the story take place? Who is there? What is the relationship between characters?

3. Describe the differences between Eddie and Carl at the start of "In Time Which Made A Monkey of Us All."

4. Why does Josie tell Liz she should be the one making Browny breakfast? How does Liz react to this?

5. In "Faith in a Tree," what does Richard do after the protesters leave the park?

6. What does Rose tell Lillie to tell her mother at the end of "Goodbye and Good Luck"? Why?

7. Where does Virginia's husband say he is going at the start of "An Interest in Life"? What gift does he give her? How does she feel about this gift? What does she tell Mrs. Raftery when she asks where her husband is going?

8. Why were Josie and Browny unable to marry? How often did they stay in touch after?

9. in "An Irrevocable Diameter," how do Cindy's parents react when she comes home after a night out with Charles C. Charly?

10. In "Faith in a Tree," why was Faith put on a commercial airline as a baby? What does she think of this?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Choose one story from the collection and write an essay exploring the central purpose of that story. What response do you think Paley hoped to get from her readers? Do you think she was successful? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

Examine how the theme of gender plays a part in the plot of the stories in the collection.

Essay Topic 3

Read a review of The Collected Stories of Grace Paley. Write an essay about how this review impacted your own views or understanding of the story.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 978 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample