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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 do J.P. and the narrator do at the end of New Year's Eve?

2. What term does the narrator use for his treatment?

3. What is J.P.'s good news on New Year's Eve?

4. What reason does J.P. give for his starting to drink heavily?

5. What does the girlfriend say to the proprietor when she and the narrator arrive at the facility?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the plot of "To Build a Fire," the story the narrator remembers reading?

2. How is the image of cold weather used in the story?

3. What does Joe Penny's name suggest?

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

5. How do the narrator's two trips to the treatment facility differ?

6. Why does the narrator use the term "drunk" instead of "alcoholic"?

7. Why is the narrator's girlfriend's son "mouthy"?

8. Is the narrator's girlfriend also an alcoholic?

9. Give an example of sarcasm in the story.

10. What is the significance of the call the narrator intends to make to his wife at the end of the story?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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

Essay Topic 2

Compare how humility and arrogance are used in the story.

Essay Topic 3

The themes of both despair and hope figure in "Where I'm Calling From." Is the story ultimately more hopeless or hopeful? Give examples to back up your opinion.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 925 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample