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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. What claim is the narrator making by calling humans "lineal scions of the pansy" (332)?
2. What are the details about the iceman's sleeves and hat intended to convey?
3. Which of the following literary techniques is used in the title "The Marry Month of May"?
4. The story opens with the word "prithee" (332). What does this word mean in this context?
5. Why does Mr. Coulson tell his servant to "bring an axe" (335)?
Short Essay Questions
1. 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?
2. Explain the technique at work in the sentences "Sparrows wrangled happily everywhere outdoors. Never trust May" (333).
3. How does O. Henry use dry humor to reveal the narrator's opinion about Mrs. Widdup in the narrative intrusion on page 333?
4. How do words like "yaller" and "lawsy" in Mrs. Widdup's dialogue characterize her?
5. 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?
6. 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).
7. What is Miss Coulson's plan to head off her father's budding romance?
8. Explain the titular allusion and the allusion to "the poet" in the first sentence of the story.
9. How does O. Henry characterize the month of May?
10. 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?
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
Make and defend a claim about O. Henry's "The Marry Month of May" as an example of American Naturalism. Support your ideas with evidence from the text; if you use outside sources, be sure to cite them in MLA format.
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 1,049 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) |
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