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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.
Short Answer Questions
1. When the author compares May to Circe and explains the comparison at length, what literary technique is he using?
2. Why does Mr. Coulson tell his servant to "bring an axe" (335)?
3. What is clear in the first interaction between Mr. Coulson, Miss Coulson, and Mrs. Widdup?
4. When Miss Coulson stands thinking at the window, to what insects does she mentally compare Mr. Coulson and Mrs. Widdup?
5. What is the purpose of the allusion to the "virgin of Cologne" (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. What is the significance of the sound of the overturned chair after Mr. Coulson confesses his feelings to Mrs. Widdup?
3. 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?
4. How do words like "yaller" and "lawsy" in Mrs. Widdup's dialogue characterize her?
5. How does O. Henry use verbal misunderstandings to characterize Mrs. Widdup when she first appears in Mr. Coulson's room?
6. 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?
7. 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).
8. 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?
9. 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?
10. 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?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Write an essay in which you analyze the characterization of Mr. Coulson and make a claim about its significance in the story. Use textual evidence to support your claim.
Essay Topic 2
Write an essay in which you affirm, refute, or qualify the statement "The month of May functions essentially as another character in "The Marry Month of May." Offer textual evidence to support your ideas.
Essay Topic 3
Write an essay in which you explore the beliefs about marriage revealed in "The Marry Month of May." Give textual support for your claims.
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This section contains 1,159 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) |
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