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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 Mrs. Widdup's job?
(a) Housekeeper.
(b) Cook.
(c) Parlor maid.
(d) Nurse.

2. What claim is the narrator making by calling humans "lineal scions of the pansy" (332)?
(a) Humans and flowers are related through evolution.
(b) Pansies are more like humans than most people realize.
(c) Humans are the servants of nature.
(d) Plants and animals are just as valuable as humans.

3. Which of the following literary techniques is used in the title "The Marry Month of May"?
(a) Hyperbole.
(b) Understatement.
(c) Personification.
(d) Alliteration.

4. What is implied by the number of days for which Miss Coulson orders extra ice?
(a) She wants the deliveries to last until Mrs. Widdup leaves for vacation.
(b) She thinks that the flowers will be done blooming in five days.
(c) She thinks that she will need five days to get to know the iceman better.
(d) She knows that after five days Mr. Coulson will be too irritated to talk to Mrs. Widdup at all.

5. Why does Mr. Coulson hesitate as he says, "In the spring...a y -- that is a man's -- fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love" (333)?
(a) Mrs. Widdup is giving him a puzzled look.
(b) The original quote is "a young man's fancy," and he realizes that he is not a "young" man.
(c) He cannot remember the exact words of the quotation.
(d) He suddenly feels unsure about whether he wants to declare his feelings.

Short Answer Questions

1. What kind of clam is a "chowder-doomed clam" (332)?

2. When the narrator lists the kinds of inappropriate relationships that May encourages, one of the items in the list is "old chaps" who dress up and "parade in front of the Normal School" (332). Who are these old men trying to impress with their fancy clothing?

3. How much ice does Miss Coulson order be delivered each day?

4. Who is Miss Van Meeker Constantia Coulson?

5. Which bird is Mr. Coulson said to be "elder brother" to in May?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Explain the titular allusion and the allusion to "the poet" in the first sentence of the story.

3. 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?

4. How do words like "yaller" and "lawsy" in Mrs. Widdup's dialogue characterize her?

5. 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?

6. 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?

7. What is the rhetorical purpose of the allusions to Puck and Circe?

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

9. What is the thematic significance of the olfactory image of the city in springtime?

10. 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).

(see the answer keys)

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