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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 kind of dessert do the children have at Café Salmonella?

2. On the way home from Café Salmonella, what does the taxicab pass that makes the children remember their parents?

3. Throughout Chapter 6, who do the children spend the morning searching the penthouse for?

4. What does Klaus hope his new guardians will have for him when he gets to the apartment?

5. At Café Salmonella, what has replaced the flowers in the vases?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the significance of the trees that once made Dark Avenue "dark" being cut down once "light" is in?

2. Why does the narrator compare the Baudelaire children's experience at the Squalor's house as a mixed bag?

3. What is revealed about Esme's character when she says, "Quickly, before anybody sees that this apartment is still dark!"

4. What is the significance of the Hansel and Gretel fairy tale to the Baudelaire's search for Gunther in the penthouse?

5. Why are the references to the King of Arizona important to the story?

6. Why do the Baudelaire children feel they sound "hopelessly spoiled" when discussing how disappointed they are with their pinstripe suit gifts from Esme?

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

8. Why is the meaning of "nervous" and "anxious" important to the reader's understanding of the novel?

9. Why does the narrator state the element of surprise won't be on the table of elements in a chemistry?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The adults in "The Ersatz Elevator" are not very responsible. What effect does this have on the Baudelaires and the Quagmires, orphans who seek and, in some instances, rely on adults to ensure their safety? Use examples from the text to support your answer.

Essay Topic 2

How do the author's methods at the beginning of the novel set the tone?

Part 1) How does the address for the Baudelaire children's new home on Dark Avenue further the tone?

Part 2) How does the cutting down of the trees once "light" is "in" help secure the tone of dread and gloom?

Part 3) How does the shadow that falls over the children at the end of Chapter 3 further the tone of dread?

Use examples from the text to support your answer.

Essay Topic 3

At the beginning of the novel, the Baudelaire children are forced to climb a staircase in the darkness with randomly placed candles for small pockets of light. As they move up the staircase, they frequently come across others in apartment building, shadows behind closed doors that make occasionally make noises of life. How is this single scene a symbol of the Baudelaire children's past "shadows" and dread? Use examples from the text to support your answer.

(see the answer keys)

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