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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is clear in the first interaction between Mr. Coulson, Miss Coulson, and Mrs. Widdup?
(a) Mr. Coulson is used to having to trick Miss Coulson in order to get his way.
(b) Mrs. Widdup is much more intelligent than she seems at first.
(c) Miss Coulson has no idea that Mr. Coulson has romantic intentions toward Mrs. Widdup.
(d) Both Mr. Coulson and Mrs. Widdup are aware that Miss Coulson will disapprove of them having a relationship.

2. When "May holds up a chiding finger," (332), what is May's intention?
(a) To scold.
(b) To indicate a direction.
(c) To indicate the "first" of something.
(d) To indicate a pause.

3. When the author compares May to Circe and explains the comparison at length, what literary technique is he using?
(a) Conceit.
(b) Synechdoche.
(c) Anaphora.
(d) Hyperbole.

4. How does the narrator suggest the reader should respond to the poet who praises the month of May?
(a) With a poem that condemns May.
(b) With a punch in the eye.
(c) With laughter.
(d) With more accurate scientific information.

5. Mrs. Widdup is described as "comely" (333). What does this mean is true about her?
(a) She is attractive.
(b) She is a hard worker.
(c) She is funny.
(d) She is clever.

Short Answer Questions

1. Miss Coulson has a "lorgnette" (334). What is a lorgnette?

2. What information does Mrs. Widdup give Mr. Coulson that contradicts what Miss Coulson told him earlier?

3. Why does Mrs. Widdup go into Mr. Coulson's room in the afternoon on the second day of the story?

4. Which neighborhood does Mr. Coulson live in?

5. On the final morning of the story, what causes Mr. Coulson's mood to change?

Short Essay Questions

1. Explain the technique at work in the sentences "Sparrows wrangled happily everywhere outdoors. Never trust May" (333).

2. When Mr. Coulson comments that the spring weather is "lovely," his daughter replies "That's just it" (334). What does she mean by her reply?

3. What is the significance of the sound of the overturned chair after Mr. Coulson confesses his feelings to Mrs. Widdup?

4. How does O. Henry use dry humor to reveal the narrator's opinion about Mrs. Widdup in the narrative intrusion on page 333?

5. What is Miss Coulson's plan to head off her father's budding romance?

6. How does O. Henry use verbal misunderstandings to characterize Mrs. Widdup when she first appears in Mr. Coulson's room?

7. When Mr. Coulson complains that no one in the house cares if he lives or dies, how does Mrs. Widdup's reply set the events of the story in motion?

8. When Miss Coulson says that the supposedly chilly weather is "An instance...of winter lingering in the lap of spring," what double meaning does she have in mind? (335).

9. What rhetorical purposes does O. Henry accomplish with his introduction of Mr. Coulson through a list of things that he "has," like gout, money, and a daughter?

10. Explain the significance of the diction "foxy" to describe Mrs. Widdup (333).

(see the answer keys)

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