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. Who does Thomas’s mother help?

2. What was Parker initially intrigued by his wife?

3. What is being built next to the grandfather’s property in “A View of the Woods”?

4. Who is Mrs. Shortley?

5. Who does Thomas accidentally shoot?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens to Mary Fortune?

2. Why doesn’t the grandson in “The Artificial Nigger” ever want to travel to the city again?

3. Why does Thomas hide the gun in the guest room?

4. Why does Calhoun visit his great-aunts?

5. How are the two teenage girls in “A Temple of the Holy Ghost” hypocritical?

6. Why does the grandfather in “A View of the Woods” sell parcels of his land?

7. Why does Julian accompany his mother on the bus?

8. Why does Mrs. May want the bull removed from her pasture?

9. What happens at the end of “The Displaced Person”? How is it an example of irony?

10. What does Rufus do to the neighbors?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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?

Essay Topic 2

O’Connor was a young educated woman living in the south. She was deeply religious and suffered from Lupus at a young age. How are the circumstances of her own life reflected in the lives’ of her characters?

Essay Topic 3

In the beginning of the story “The Barber”, Rayber is reminiscing about his last shave. He tries to think of a rebuttal to all that the barber said. What are Rayber’s beliefs? What are the barber’s beliefs? Why does Rayber feel a need to convince the barber? Why does Rayber feel bad that he doesn’t stand up for his beliefs? Who’s listening into their conversation?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 637 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample