Print
Word
PDF
|
| Name: _________________________ | Period: ___________________ |
This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.
Short Answer Questions
1. In "Boston Common at Twilight," how does Ned's brother react when Ned tells him about the assault?
2. In "Why I Don't Write," what is the likely source of items like "Sponge. Lemon. Milk" (66)?
3. In "While It Lasts," what does George do for a living?
4. In "Boston Common at Twilight," what sport is Ned involved in?
5. At the end of "While It Lasts," what do Bonnie and George argue about?
Short Essay Questions
1. In "Boston Common at Twilight," what alternative place to stay is available to Ned, and why does he prefer to stay with his aunt?
2. In "While It Lasts," what does Isabel want from Bonnie, and why?
3. In "Café Mort," what evidence is there that the narrator is ready to leave her grief behind even before Anita speaks to her?
4. In the second paragraph of "Why I Don't Write," what is the implication of the list following the phrase "then it all stops" (65)?
5. On page 73 of "Why I Don't Write," what is the effect of the single word change from "I don't read it anymore" to the later item "I don't read anymore"?
6. In "Café Mort," what does her experience at the café teach the narrator about being "lucky" in life?
7. In "Why I Don't Write," what is the page 69 phrase "The thumping far below the floor" an allusion to, and what is its thematic significance?
8. In "Café Mort," why does the narrator say that the stream of advice coming from the patrons is "either instructive or ironic, depending on your perspective" (93)?
9. In "Café Mort," what does the narrator need to rid herself of before she can leave the café?
10. In "Boston Common at Twilight," what clues does Minot offer that the woman in the park might be biologically male?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
The significance of borders is always in question in Why I Don't Write: characters feel themselves dissolving or dissociate from their bodies, people struggle to keep the past from intruding on the present, and the boundaries between cultures and the living and the dead are not as clear-cut as we might ordinarily think them to be. Write an essay that takes and defends a position about borders in Minot's collection. Use evidence from at least three stories to support your claims.
Essay Topic 2
The collection Why I Write contains stories that are traditional and stories that are more experimental. Write an essay that categorizes the stories as one or the other and then takes and defends a stance about which type of stories are more successful for Minot. Be sure to use textual evidence to support your ideas.
Essay Topic 3
Grief, absence, and loneliness are obstacles for many of Minot's characters. Choose two characters from two separate stories in the collection and compare and contrast the way they handle these emotional obstacles. Use textual evidence to support your claims.
|
This section contains 1,088 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) |
|
