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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 has become a "bitterness" for the narrator if "Iseult of Brittany"?

2. Throughout their marriage, how many evenings have the Weldons experienced that are similar to the one described in "Too Bad"?

3. According to the poem " Two-Volume Novel," what has stopped the sun and moon from shining?

4. What is the message behind the poem "Fable"?

5. According to "Salome's Dancing-Lesson," who does not need dance lessons?

Short Essay Questions

1. Explain the allusions in the poem "Guinevere At Her Fireside."

2. In "Soldiers of the Republic," what does the narrator learn about the life of a soldier?

3. What is the lesson behind the poem "Parable for a Certain Virgin"?

4. Compare the poems "Star Light, Star Bright--" and "Purposely Ungrammatical Love Song." How are they similar?

5. In the short story "The Last Tea," why does the girl brag about the evening that she had the night before?

6. Describe Mr. Cruger's attitude toward his daughter in the story "Horsie."

7. How does the resolution of "Big Blonde" illustrate that Hazel's troubles are recurrent cycle?

8. In "Mrs. Hofstadter on Josephine Street," how is Horace the exact opposite of what the narrator and her husband are looking for?

9. Compare the poems "Surprise," "On Being A Woman," and "Second Love." What do they have in common?

10. In the story, "Lady With a Lamp," what is Mona's illness?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In many of Dorothy Parker's stories, relationships become strained because the characters do not speak honestly to one another. Instead, one character will say whatever he/she thinks the other wants to hear, or characters will skirt around a subject all together. Examine how this kind of dishonesty affects relationships in Parker's short stories. Be sure to include specific examples and quotations to support your observations.

Essay Topic 2

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.

Essay Topic 3

Dorothy Parker often portrays the relationship between men and women as adversarial. Support this observation by providing and analyzing evidence from both her short stories and her poetry. Be sure to use specific examples and quotations when appropriate.

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