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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Section 1: "We Didn't".

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In the story's opening, what details are related to the passage of time?
(a) Gin's bed and their parents' cars.
(b) The condition of the Rambler and the rosary.
(c) Grass, leaves, and snow.
(d) Light and darkness.

2. What is the first priority of the ambulance attendant when he arrives?
(a) To demand that the woman be covered up.
(b) To see if the baby is also deceased.
(c) To ask whether Gin and the narrator know the woman's name.
(d) To try to give the woman CPR.

3. On the fall night when the narrator realizes that his relationship with Gin is over, what are they arguing about?
(a) A female poet who has committed suicide.
(b) A series of Elvis movies they saw at a drive-in.
(c) Whether they will ever have sex.
(d) The drowned woman.

4. Why does the narrator say that Lake Michigan "became" the Pacific Ocean (235)?
(a) He is referencing the film From Here to Eternity.
(b) The sound of the waves is exaggerated by his excitement.
(c) He is experiencing a feeling of being lost in space and time.
(d) Gin has always imagined losing her virginity on a California beach.

5. What does the narrator speculate that the lightening across the water might be doing?
(a) Making sea glass on Michigan beaches.
(b) Setting Indiana barns on fire.
(c) Chasing the seagulls out of the sky.
(d) Lighting up the paths of far-away freighters.

Short Answer Questions

1. To what British author does the narrator ironically compare himself near the end of the story?

2. In Gin's dream about the beach, why has the narrator left her alone?

3. What technique is used in the sentence "On my fingers your slick scent mixed with the coconut musk of the suntan lotion we’d repeatedly smeared over each other's bodies" (234) ?

4. In the story's opening, what details are related to the characters' youth?

5. What is the title of the poem used as an epigraph for this story?

(see the answer key)

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