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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 type of smile does the landlady offer Billy when she opens the door?

2. As Billy walks, what types of buildings line the street?

3. Billy wants to be as successful as whom?

4. What is the name of Billy's boss?

5. What is the name of the place Billy plans to stay the night?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the presence of the animals lead Billy to think?

2. As Billy stares through the front window of the bed and breakfast, what animals does he see inside? What are they doing?

3. What happens when Billy attempts to walk away from the bed and breakfast?

4. What type of narrator does the story have?

5. As Billy walks through town, what does Billy see in the front window of the bed and breakfast? What objects are there?

6. What is odd about how the landlady opens the door after Billy rings the bell? To what does he compare her?

7. Upon seeing the window of the bed and breakfast, how does Billy feel? How does he react?

8. What initially frightens Billy about the bed and breakfast? What does he think about bed and breakfasts in general?

9. What trait does Billy believe is essential to success? What makes him think this?

10. As Billy walks through town, what does Billy notice about his surroundings?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Mortality (as well as its opposite, immortality) is a key theme in the story. How is this theme illustrated by the story’s characters and plot? What point do you think the author is trying to make regarding this theme?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the role of foreshadowing in the story. How does the author prepare the reader for the ending from the very first page?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the bird and the dachshund as symbols in the story. What do they represent, and what do they foreshadow?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 708 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample