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

2. When Mr. Coulson continues quoting the poem and mentions "a livelier iris," what does Mrs. Widdup think he is talking about? (333)
(a) Eyes.
(b) The Irish.
(c) Flowers.
(d) A bird.

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

4. What is the purpose of the allusion to the "virgin of Cologne" (334)?
(a) It foreshadows later plot events.
(b) It characterizes Miss Coulson as cruel and selfish.
(c) It implies that Miss Coulson is uninterested in romantic love.
(d) It reminds the reader that Miss Coulson is very religious.

5. There are "jonquils" near where Mr. Coulson is sitting. What are jonquils?
(a) They are a small sparrow-like bird.
(b) They are decorative figures common in early 20th century homes.
(c) They are thick woolen blankets.
(d) They are a kind of daffodil, a flower.

Short Answer Questions

1. With which motif is Miss Coulson most identified?

2. On page 334, the narrator refers to the "panoply" of Miss Coulson's "unthrilled bosom." What is the meaning of "panoply" in this context?

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

4. What are the "portières" that Miss Coulson is sitting near?

5. When Mr. Coulson asks for his "aconite," what is he asking for (333)?

Short Essay Questions

1. Explain the significance of the diction "foxy" to describe Mrs. Widdup (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. What is the thematic significance of the olfactory image of the city in springtime?

5. 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?

6. 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).

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

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

9. 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?

10. In the passage where Miss Coulson stares out the window, the reader is told "The chirp of the sparrows gave her a pain. She mocked at May" (334). To what earlier passage is this a reference, and what is the significance of the reference?

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