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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. What do the man and woman in "The Burdened Man" do each week after they forgive each other?

2. Why does Mrs. Luddy keep Donald inside the apartment?

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

4. What did the mother ask of her daughter when she came home at 3 a.m. in "Mother"?

5. What do Faith and the woman say they did not really know how to do at the end of "The Expensive Moment"?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. Why is Ruthy sad at her 50th birthday party when her friends tell stories?

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

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

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

7. Describe the progression of the man's relationship with his female neighbor in "The Burdened Man."

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

9. Why is Lavinia's mother upset at the end of "Lavinia: An Old Story"?

10. Who is Mrs. Luddy and why does Faith stay in her apartment?

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 race plays a part in the plot of the stories in the collection.

Essay Topic 3

Choose one story and discuss elements of the narrative structure: Exposition, conflict, complication, climax, resolution and conclusion. Do all the elements make for a logical and linear story? How does the story's structure express the story's themes?

(see the answer keys)

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