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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 type of egg hangs in the chimney corner of Landor's cottage?

2. What model flintlock does Poe find in a marble vase in Landor's cottage?

3. In Chapter 11, where does Landor remember a farrier was branded with one of his own irons?

4. What is Poe's monthly stipend?

5. What letters does Poe notice in scorch marks in the icehouse in Chapter 11?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Who was de Lancre, and what did he write that seemed to have relevance to the Fry case?

3. Why is Landor summoned to West Point?

4. How does Poe meet Landor in Chapter 9?

5. Who is Professor Pawpaw?

6. What luck do Poe and Landor have in deciphering the note that was found in Fry's hand?

7. Why are Thayer and Hitchcock reluctant to have Landor engage Poe to be his eyes and ears, an informer, among the cadets?

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The climax in a novel is the highest point of tension and a turning point. What is the climax of The Pale Blue Eye and why is that incident the climax?

Essay Topic 2

Occasionally Landor directly speaks to readers. This is called “breaking the fourth wall.” How does it seem that the narrator is having conversations with readers throughout The Pale Blue Eye? How do these conversations provide information to readers that characters may not be privy to? What is the purpose of breaking the fourth wall?

Essay Topic 3

Poe is very taken with Lea when he first meets her. Are his feelings love or infatuation?

(see the answer keys)

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