View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What kind of car does the narrator of Rock Springs steal?

2. With whom does Delores finally have a child?

3. In River of Names, what is the narrator certain she does not want to do?

4. When does the story The First Day take place?

5. In Talk of Heroes, Who is Willi Varig?

Short Essay Questions

1. In the story The Fat Girl,When Louise examines herself in a mirror, what parts of her body does she like? What parts does she hate?

2. In The Fat Girl, what is the secret that follows Louise from high school to college?

3. In A Romantic Weekend, how long do Beth and her companion stay in Washington,D.C. and how do they return home? Why did they actually make the trip?

4. In the story Chopin in Winter, what do Michael and Dzia-Dzia talk about at night and why?

5. What story does Edna tell the narrator of Rock Springs about her pet, a monkey?

6. In the story Rock Springs, how do Edna, Cheryl and the narrator end up in Rock Springs?

7. Who is speaking in Girl, and to who is she directing her instructions?

8. In the story The First Day, where are the mother and child going at the opening of the story? Why is this an important day?

9. Who does the mother in the story The First Day ask the woman at Walker Jones School and why?

10. In Testimony of Pilot, how does Quadberry get the scar over his right eye?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Alcohol is a theme in some of the stories in this collection. Compare the drinking and the effect drinking has on these characters and their close relationships: Walter in All The Way To Flagstaff, Arizona; Willi Vorig in Talk of Heroes, and Lenny in Tall Tales From the Mekong Delta.

Essay Topic 2

What unusual literary device does Jamaica Kincaid use in her story Girl? Why and how does this device succeed in this piece?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the use of metaphors in the story Men Under Water. How do they reflect the relationship between the narrator and Gunther?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,038 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample