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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 is the name of the private detective who had worked for Sophie?
(a) Auster.
(b) Brown.
(c) Quinn.
(d) Blue.

2. From where was Fanshawe's letter postmarked?
(a) New York.
(b) Paris.
(c) Mexico City.
(d) New Jersey.

3. What does Fanshawe's mother offer the narrator to help him with his project?
(a) Letters, photographs, and documents.
(b) Clothing.
(c) Fanshawe's diary.
(d) Money.

4. How many suitcases does Fanshawe's work fill?
(a) One.
(b) Three.
(c) Seven.
(d) Two.

5. What varsity sport did Fanshawe play for a brief period in his sophomore year before suddenly quitting the team?
(a) Tennis.
(b) Lacrosse.
(c) Basketball.
(d) Baseball.

Short Answer Questions

1. What team does Jackie Robinson play for in 1947?

2. What is the number of the box at the Brooklyn Post Office to which Blue sends his monthly reports?

3. How does the narrator respond to the rumor that Fanshawe never existed and that he had written the works himself?

4. To whom does Blue write a letter about the case asking for advice?

5. During their second conversation, what does Black tell Blue that he does for a living?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who told Blue stories about the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge? What was this person's profession and what became of him?

2. When Blue receives his first payment from White, why is he surprised and then disappointed? What was he expecting?

3. What is difficult for Blue about writing the monthly reports of Black's activities for White to read? What does he want to include in the reports to make them more truthful?

4. About what aspect of Fanshawe's writing do Sophie and Fanshawe disagree? What is the compromise that Fanshawe offers her a few months before his disappearance?

5. What does Blue want to do when he thinks about the future Mrs. Blue? How does this make him realize that he is changing?

6. What is Jane Fanshawe's critique of her son? How does she describe the relationship between Fanshawe and his parents?

7. In the early period of the case, what two extreme attitudes does Blue experience? How does each of these extreme conditions make him feel?

8. What is unusual about the letter that the narrator supposedly receives from Fanshawe? How does this quirk help to convince the narrator of the letter's veracity?

9. Which of Fanshawe's works does the narrator choose to show first to the editor? What is the editor's reaction to the work?

10. When Blue enters Black's apartment disguised as the Fuller Brush man, what does Black tell Blue his profession is? When Blue later breaks into Black's apartment and steals the papers from his desk, what does he find them to contain?

(see the answer keys)

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