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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 is written on the New Year's Eve cake?

2. Who calls for an ambulance after Tiny's fall?

3. When does the title phrase "Where I'm Calling From" appear in the story?

4. When the story opens, how long have the narrator and J.P. been at the facility?

5. What word does the narrator use for a drink?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the significance of the way Roxy is dressed on New Year's Day?

2. Is the story sympathetic or not sympathetic to alcoholics, and why?

3. Why does the narrator want to ask Tiny more about his seizure?

4. Why does the author keep mentioning the coal bucket?

5. Why does the proprietor get a cake for New Year's Eve?

6. What does Tiny represent?

7. Why does Roxy say yes to a date with J.P.?

8. Why does the proprietor recommend "The Call of the Wild" to J.P. and the narrator?

9. What is the significance of Christmas in the story?

10. Give one example of a character in the story being self-deprecating.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Many details in the story are vague, while others are very precise. For example, J.P. is "eighteen or nineteen" when he meets his wife, but he remembers exactly what she is wearing. Explore how the author alternately uses vague and precise details and why.

Essay Topic 2

How do compassion and forgiveness figure into the story?

Essay Topic 3

Describe the different ways in which physical vulnerability figures into the story and why.

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