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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 does the young man offer to go out and get for the girl in the the story "The Sexes"?

2. What is Walter Williams' profession?

3. How long have Mr. and Mrs. Bain lived in their home?

4. For what are the Bains and Mrs. Whittaker waiting?

5. What animal did the last of Hobie's decorators collect and add to his decor?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What do the poems "Interview" and "Neither Bloody Nor Bowed" have in common?

3. What is the irony in the end of the short story "The Waltz"?

4. Why is Mimi upset after her husband's phone call in the beginning of "The Lovely Leave"?

5. What message is sent by the poem "Now At Liberty"?

6. In "The Standard of Living," how are Midge and Annabel affected by the news of the actual price of the necklace in the shop window?

7. How are the poems "Somebody's Song," "Unfortunate Coincidence," and "Comment" similar?

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

9. Compare the poems "Social Note" and "For An Unknown Lady."

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Many of Dorothy Parker's characters suffer from addiction. Examine the roles that alcoholism and other addictions play in the fates of her characters. What leads the characters into addiction? How do these addictions affect their lives? What seems to be Parker's attitude toward those who suffer from addictions? Be sure to support your ideas with specific examples and quotations from the text.

Essay Topic 2

Analyze the theme of lost love in Dorothy Parker's poetry. How consistent or common is this theme? What do the poems reveal about Parker's attitude toward love, in particular lost love? Be sure to include specific examples and quotations to support your observations.

Essay Topic 3

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.

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