View a FREE sample

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What advice does Faith give Mr. Zagrowsky, which angers him?

2. How long does Faith stay in her old apartment in "Long Distance Runner"?

3. What does Lavinia's mother ask Robert at the start of "Lavinia: An Old Story"?

4. What does the woman call her husband when he pulls a gun on them in "The Burdened Man"?

5. Who lives in Faith's old apartment in "Long Distance Runner"?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the narrator in "Mother" long for?

2. Describe Nick and Faith's relationship in "The Expensive Moment."

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

4. What does Faith do at the end of the story after she and her father argue? Describe the mood.

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

6. What saved Vicente's wife in "A Man Told Me the Story of His Life"?

7. Who is Sonia in "In This Country: But in Another Language..."? Why is the grandmother worried about ther?

8. What does Jack say could happen if they have a baby as the narrator suggests in "The Story Hearer"?

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

10. Why is the birth in "At That Time, or The History of a Joke" said to be a miracle?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Choose a character from one story in the collection and discuss their role in creating conflict in the story.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay discussing the setting and time period of The Collected Stories of Grace Paley. In what ways does the time period and setting impact your understanding of the story as well as the themes?

Essay Topic 3

Pick a character from one story and discuss their goals and motives. Do they achieve their motive? Do they share similar goals and motives with other characters? Do their goals clash with other characters? How do the characters' goals and motives affect their interaction with each other?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 815 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample