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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In "Tell Me Something Good," what does the speaker's mother's boyfriend smell like?
(a) Whiskey and oreos.
(b) Antifreeze.
(c) Chips.
(d) Beer.

2. In "Not Even," what does the speaker say he used to be?
(a) An anomaly.
(b) A journal.
(c) A fag.
(d) A drink.

3. In "Reasons for Staying," what sounds "like footsteps" when you play it?
(a) The window.
(b) The broken piano under a bridge in Windsor.
(c) The guitar.
(d) The flute.

4. In "Nothing," whose recipe is the bread recipe?
(a) The speaker's mother's.
(b) The neighbor's.
(c) Peter's grandmother's.
(d) The speaker's.

5. In "Reasons for Staying," what does the speaker's mother apply before heading to chemo?
(a) Lipstick.
(b) A coat.
(c) Blush.
(d) A scarf.

Short Answer Questions

1. In "Künstlerroman," when does the speaker dance with his mother?

2. Who is "Toy Boat" written for?

3. In "Nothing," what do ghosts who are family say?

4. In "Tell Me Something Good," what does the speaker pack a bag with?

5. In "Künstlerroman," who does the man in the movie end up being?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the poem "Toy Boat" about?

2. What are some reasons the speaker wants to stay in his hometown in "Reasons for Staying"?

3. Who does the speaker wish to communicate with in "No One Knows the Way to Heaven"?

4. In "Amazon History of a Former Nail Salon Worker," what does the reader learn about the speaker's mother?

5. What does the speaker do with Peter in "Nothing"?

6. What is one reason that the speaker is a writer in "Ars Poetica as the Maker"?

7. Where does the speaker see himself in "Tell Me Something Good"?

8. What does the speaker do with the movie in "Künstlerroman"?

9. In "Scavengers," who is the speaker with and in what context?

10. What does the speaker imply but not directly state in "Tell Me Something Good"?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 545 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample