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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 does Hazel Weaver want from Enoch Emery?

2. How old is the boy in “The River”?

3. Who dose Hazel accompany to the dining car?

4. Where is Old Dudley living?

5. What is the mother in “The River” doing in the beginning of the story?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Hazel Wickers keep thinking about his mother?

2. How does Mr. Shiflet convince the widow of his sincerity?

3. Why does Enoch steal the gorilla suit?

4. What is Old Gabriel afraid of besides the wildcat?

5. How do the boys invade the farm, despite the widow asking them to leave in “A Circle in the Fire”?

6. How is the General dying at the commencement a form of irony?

7. Why does Rayber’s old barber call him a “mother hubbard”?

8. Why is Ruller so proud to bring the turkey home to his family?

9. Why doesn’t Hazel Wickers believe that the porter’s father was a railroad engineer?

10. What does Mrs. Willerton wish that she had more time for?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

O’ Connor’s writing is full of absurd images and grotesque scenes. What is absurd about Enoch Emery’s behavior? What is comical about his discoveries, his routine and his expectations? What is O’Connor suggesting by the absurdity of this story?

Essay Topic 2

O’Connor’s stories are rich with symbolic irony. How does O’Connor demonstrate this in “The River”?

Essay Topic 3

In “Enoch and the Gorilla”, Enoch is jubilant, convinced his outer appearance has changed him inside as well, but when he attempts to befriend a nearby couple, they are terrified of his realistic gorilla look and they run off screaming. What is O’Connor suggesting happens when people change their outward appearance in an attempt to change who they are? What other stories in this collection have characters who attempt at changing physical means to change internally?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 760 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample