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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. Who helps Old Dudley up the stairs?

2. “The Barber” takes place in which town?

3. What animal comes to Old Gabriel’s cabin?

4. What does Madam Zoleeda tell Ruby?

5. What does Mrs. Cope suggest once they invade the property?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens at the end of “A Circle in the Fire”?

2. Why doesn’t the hitchhiker ride with Mr. Shiflet when he pulls over for him?

3. Why is Hazel Motes reluctant to befriend Enoch Emery?

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

5. Why is Ruller afraid something bad is about to happen?

6. Why doesn’t the grandmother want to drive through Georgia in “A Good Man is Hard to Find”?

7. Who is Leora?

8. What is O’Connor’s message in “The River”?

9. Why does Ruby dread Rufus’s arrival?

10. What does Enoch Emery’s daily routine consist of?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Many stories in this collection have an unmarried mother or sister and a son or brother carrying for the man. In how many stories in this collection does the author use a widow and an unmarried son as her main characters? What do they represent?

Essay Topic 2

Mrs. Willerton in “The Crop” uses her fiction to escape into another reality. Analyze Mrs. Willerton’s fictional account to gain a sense of what she really wants in life? For example, what is suggested by Mrs. Willerton initially creating a mean unforgiving wife for Lot Motum? How does Mrs. Willerton come to his rescue? What is suggested by the crop loss and Lot Motum’s response?

Essay Topic 3

Many of the settings in The Complete Stories take place on small farms and in small southern towns. Do you think Flannery O'Connor paints a realistic picture of life in a small town and on a farm? What about small-town southern people?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 794 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample