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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 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 confused by its surroundings.
(d) One that is poisonous to humans.

2. Which bird is Mr. Coulson said to be "elder brother" to in May?
(a) Turtle-dove.
(b) Chickadee.
(c) Pigeon.
(d) Robin.

3. Miss Coulson has a "lorgnette" (334). What is a lorgnette?
(a) A piece of jewelry used to hold a scarf or shawl closed.
(b) A high-necked, long-sleeved sweater.
(c) A round, flat case designed to hold medications or tobacco.
(d) Glasses that have a handle instead of ear-pieces.

4. Where Mr. Coulson is sitting, two main smells are "battling": the smell of flowers and what other smell?
(a) The musty smell of Mr. Coulson's room.
(b) Mr. Coulson's strong cologne.
(c) The medicine on Mr. Coulson's skin.
(d) Mr. Coulson's uneaten breakfast.

5. What illness does Mr. Coulson suffer from?
(a) Lupus.
(b) Anemia.
(c) Gout.
(d) Rheumatism.

Short Answer Questions

1. 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)?

2. Who is Miss Van Meeker Constantia Coulson?

3. When Mr. Coulson is irritated, he complains that no one in the house does what?

4. According to the narrator, what does May want humans to remember?

5. What is implied about Miss Coulson when she looks at the flowers "with the eye of a botanist" (334)?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens when Mrs. Widdup makes an excuse to go into Mr. Coulson's room to speak with him after the ice is delivered?

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

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

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

6. 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?

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

8. 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?

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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