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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 do the Baudelaire children believe Gunther will try to do?

2. According to the narrator, which of the two elements he mentions is a gas?

3. When the Baudelaire children reach the Squalor penthouse apartment, what does the person who answers the door wear?

4. What is the one thing Violet cannot find in her bedroom at the Squalor's penthouse apartment?

5. When the children first meet Mr. Squalor, what does he offer to get them?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. What is the importance of the Baudelaire orphans' friends being named Quagmire?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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.

Essay Topic 2

How is irony used throughout the novel? Cite different examples of irony and describe whether the use of irony is effective (or not effective) to the overall storyline. Use examples from the text to support your answer.

Essay Topic 3

Describe the literal and symbolic use of the red herring in "The Ersatz Elevator." Use examples from the text to support your answer.

(see the answer keys)

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