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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. According to the poem "Wisdom," what is a path to misery?

2. What does the narrator wish for the girl in the poem "Story"?

3. Why does the narrator in "Thought for a Sunshiny Morning" not mind stepping on a worm?

4. What is the narrator's dilemma in the poem "Dilemma"?

5. To what does the narrator compare the lighting in the speakeasy?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

4. What kind of advice do the poems "Prologue to a Saga" and "The Lady's Reward" give to women?

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

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

7. How does Hazel Morse lose her own identity in her efforts to please others in the short story "Big Blonde"?

8. Describe the narrator's tone in the story "Just a Little One."

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Choose two characters from different short stories that seem to share similar traits and analyze their similarities and differences. How do these similarities influence their respective stories? What do these character's reveal about the author's attitude toward her topic? Be sure to include specific examples and quotations in order to support your observations.

Essay Topic 2

Examine the influence that Dorothy Parker's socialist perspective has on her writing, in particular her later writing. Be sure to include specific examples and quotations from several different pieces in order to support your points.

Essay Topic 3

Examine Dorothy Parker's "Self Portrait" and her letters. What do these pieces reveal about her as a person? How do these revelations compare to the themes and characters that she writes about? Be sure to include specific examples and quotations to support these observations.

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