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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 grade does the narrator give to a "passing fair" lady in the poem "Roundel"?

2. How does Mr. Durant react to Rose's announcement that she will not return and does not want to see him again?

3. Who is Mrs. Corning?

4. In "A Telephone Call," what time did the young man say he would call?

5. In "The New Love," how does the narrator regard her new lover?

Short Essay Questions

1. Explain the irony in the poem "The False Friends."

2. How does "A Telephone Call" reinforce Dorothy Parker's perspective regarding the relationship between men and women?

3. What trouble does the man in "You Were Perfectly Fine" create when he lies about remembering the taxi ride?

4. Why does the woman in "The Waltz" agree to dance with the young man even though she does not want to?

5. In "Arrangement in Black and White," what do the woman's behavior and comments at the dinner party reveal about her?

6. Why is the girl in "The Sexes" rude to the young man?

7. Why is Mimi upset by her husband's compliment about her black dress in "The Lovely Leave"?

8. What is ironic about Mrs. Martindale's volunteer efforts in the short story, "Song of the Shirt, 1941"?

9. What do the poems "I Know I Have Been Happiest" and "I Shall Come Back" have in common?

10. What does Mr. Durant's response to the dog reveal about him?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe Dorothy Parker's writing style in her essays. How does this style compare to her short stories and poetry? How do her tone and word choice compare? What types of imagery does she use? How does her writing style influence the effectiveness of her essays? Be sure to include specific examples and quotations to support your observations.

Essay Topic 2

Many of Dorothy Parker's characters are careless of others and sometimes even of themselves. Examine these careless characters and the effects that their behavior has on others and themselves. What observation does Parker seem to make through these characters? Support your points with specific examples and quotations from the text.

Essay Topic 3

Analyze the ways in which some characters in Dorothy Parker's short stories exert control over other characters. What methods do they use to gain and maintain this control? What purpose does this control seem to serve? What seems to be Parker's attitude toward these "controlling" characters? Be sure to include specific examples and quotations to support your points.

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