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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 does Mr. Coulson call Mrs. Widdup when she starts talking about "ivy and hand-organs" (335)?
(a) A fool.
(b) Insane.
(c) A romantic.
(d) "My dear."

2. What kind of clam is a "chowder-doomed clam" (332)?
(a) One that is personified as feeling worried.
(b) One that is destined to be eaten in soup.
(c) One that is poisonous to humans.
(d) One that is confused by its surroundings.

3. How many years apart are Miss Coulson's and Mrs. Widdup's ages?
(a) 10.
(b) 5.
(c) 15.
(d) They are the same age.

4. When Mr. Coulson asks for his "aconite," what is he asking for (333)?
(a) A hot breakfast cereal, like porridge or gruel.
(b) An herbal medicine used to treat pain and inflammation.
(c) A wooden cane with a carved top.
(d) A religious text that provides commentary on the Bible.

5. What is the first indication that Mrs. Widdup does not listen carefully?
(a) She does not respond to the question that Mr. Coulson asks her.
(b) She does not pay attention to how much medication she is supposed to give Mr. Coulson.
(c) She thinks that Mr. Coulson is telling her about his feelings for another woman.
(d) She interrupts Mr. Coulson when he is speaking.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why is Mr. Coulson so clumsy on the afternoon after the ice is delivered?

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

3. The narrator says,"Pixies and flibbertigibbits haunt the budding woods" (332). What is in the woods?

4. Mrs. Widdup is described as "comely" (333). What does this mean is true about her?

5. What is clear in the first interaction between Mr. Coulson, Miss Coulson, and Mrs. Widdup?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. 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?

3. 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?

4. 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).

5. What happens overnight that changes Mrs. Widdup and Mr. Coulson's fate?

6. How does O. Henry characterize the month of May?

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

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

9. When Mr. Coulson finally confesses his feelings to Mrs. Widdup, what drawback to himself does he acknowledge, and what advantage does he say balances this drawback out?

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

(see the answer keys)

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