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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. As Billy regards the front window of the bed and breakfast, how does he feel?

2. According to Billy, what sort of face does the landlady have?

3. How is the air described the night of Billy's arrival in town?

4. According to Billy as he looks in the front window, what is the third negative association he has with staying in a bed and breakfast?

5. The description of the wind in the opening paragraphs of the story employs what literary technique?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

4. What does the word "rapacious" mean? How might this description foreshadow what is to come?

5. Where does Billy initially plan to stay while in Bath? Why?

6. How does the narrator describe the weather at the beginning of the story?

7. According to Billy, what are the benefits of staying at The Bell and Dragon?

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

9. Describe the landlady as she appears when Billy first encounters her.

10. Who is the protagonist of the story? What does the reader learn about him as the story begins?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What, in your opinion, caused Billy’s downfall? Answer using support from the text.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the importance of briskness and how it helps to explain Billy’s character. How does the idea of briskness contribute to his fate in the story?

Essay Topic 3

Billy finds himself involved in a few conflicts over the course of the story. Choose one instance of internal conflict and one instance of external conflict, and explain how these conflicts have an impact on the story and on Billy.

(see the answer keys)

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