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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. According to Billy, how old is Mr. Mulholland's guestbook entry?

2. What is the first name of Mr. Mulholland?

3. Upon showing Billy around the bed and breakfast, how does the landlady describe her home?

4. The phrase "as though the tray were a pair of reins on a frisky horse" is what type of figurative language?

5. What has the landlady added to Billy's bed in order to warm it up for him?

Short Essay Questions

1. Upon entering the bed and breakfast, what does Billy notice about the entranceway that strikes him as odd?

2. What information does Billy discover in the guestbook?

3. After the landlady leaves Billy in his room, what does Billy think about her? Why counterargument does he use to dismiss this concern?

4. What does Billy think of the landlady as he enters the bed and breakfast? Of what does she remind him?

5. What objects does the landlady carry into the sitting room while Billy is waiting there?

6. What does Billy surmise about when Mulholland left the bed and breakfast? What makes him think this?

7. What does Billy believe about the landlady's past that explains her current behavior?

8. As Billy waits in the sitting room for the landlady, how does he consider his surroundings? How does he consider himself?

9. According to the landlady, where had one of the previous guests gone to school? What odd verb does she use to describe his arrival at the bed and breakfast?

10. According to Billy, where did he see the names of the previous guests? What does he believe about the two men?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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

Essay Topic 2

Compare and contrast Billy and the landlady. How are they similar, and how are they different? What does each want? Support your answers with examples from the text.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the motivation of the two main characters in the story: Billy Weaver and the landlady. What motivates each? Why does each behave as he or she does? Use evidence from the story to support your answer.

(see the answer keys)

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