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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. Why does Jerome not continue to support the children's claim about Gunther's identity?

2. What type of ice cream does the narrator at the beginning of Chapter 1 state you may be nervous about eating?

3. Which of the Baudelaire orphans wear glasses?

4. According to Jerome, what is a xenophobe?

5. What is an aqueous martini?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the author illustrate the differences between Esme and Jerome Squalor?

2. What does the Squalor's apartment say about their lives and their character?

3. What is revealed about Esme when she comments that orphans are so "in" they ought to be in the In Auction?

4. What is ironic about Mr. Poe telling the children about the staircase, "it's all uphill from here"?

5. What is the significance of the doorman telling the Baudelaire children and Jerome they can't go up to the penthouse until Gunther comes down?

6. Why don't Esme and Jerome Squalor believe the children that Gunther is really Count Olaf?

7. Why does Esme act strangely when Klaus asks her if Gunther took the elevator down from the penthouse?

8. What is symbolic of Jerome sliding down the stairs and his laughter growing fainter the further he descends?

9. What role does the scene at Café Salmonella play in the overall plot of the story?

10. What is the importance of the doorman's strange clothing?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does the author's use of puns develop the characterization of the narrator? Use examples from the text to support your answer.

Essay Topic 2

The city the Baudelaire children were born and raised is a metropolis and has big city/urban problems. Compare the fictionalized city to a real life metropolis (or the city you live in). Does your city have the same or different issues as the place the Baudelaire children reside? Use examples from the text to support your answer.

Essay Topic 3

The doorman mentions to Klaus that every problem has a solution. Select three problems from "The Ersatz Elevator" and write the solutions used in the story. Discuss whether you think the solutions are effective. Use examples from the text to support your answer.

(see the answer keys)

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