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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. Where does Landor meet Poe?

2. What name does Landor use when he refers to a wandering cow in Chapter 1?

3. Who does Poe say was once Fry's roommate?

4. At Professor Pawpaw's cottage, on what type of dead tree are birdcages?

5. In Chapter 75, what is Poe's ranking out of a class of 80?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Poe think that Landor reads poetry, and how does he learn he is mistaken?

2. Why is Landor staying at Mr. Cozzens' hotel in Chapter 4?

3. What is Professor Pawpaw's cottage like outside?

4. Why does Landor converse with a steward at the mess hall in Chapter 16?

5. What does Landor find on Fry's body?

6. What was the only mistress that Landor's wife, Amelia, feared?

7. Why is Landor summoned to West Point?

8. How was Landor summoned to West Point in Chapter 1?

9. In Chapter 10, what does Patsy remember about Leroy Fry?

10. Why does Landor write to Henry Kirke Reid on October 30, 1830?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

An allusion is a figure of speech that does not directly refer to a person, place, or thing. What are some allusions in The Pale Blue Eye? Why might it be difficult to decipher an allusion just by the context of a passage in a book? How do the allusions Bayard uses help readers’ understanding of characters or concepts?

Essay Topic 2

Setting is the place or places where a story happens. Where does The Pale Blue Eye take place? How do characters feel about the various settings and why?

Essay Topic 3

Poe is heard to say that he wants to kill Ballinger. What is the relationship between Ballinger and Poe? Why does Hitchcock suspect Poe when Ballinger dies?

(see the answer keys)

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