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

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

3. On the final morning of the story, what causes Mr. Coulson's mood to change?
(a) Miss Coulson has told him that he is behaving badly.
(b) It is warm again and the windows are open.
(c) He is in much less pain than usual.
(d) Mrs. Widdup has threatened to quit.

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

5. With which motif is Miss Coulson most identified?
(a) Ice.
(b) Flowers.
(c) May.
(d) Wealth.

Short Answer Questions

1. What are the details about the iceman's sleeves and hat intended to convey?

2. What does Mr. Coulson call Mrs. Widdup when she starts talking about "ivy and hand-organs" (335)?

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

4. What is the implication of the passage "She blushed. Oh, yes, it can be done. Just hold your breath and compress the diaphragm" (333)?

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

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. When rhetorical purposes are served by the passage where the narrator says that the scent of flowers was carried in through the window and "fought" with the scent of Mr. Coulson's gout medicine?

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

5. 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?

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. 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?

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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