View a FREE sample

This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Jimmy says that Tug has a "lugubrious air" (3). What is another way to describe this quality?
(a) Quietly desperate.
(b) Theatrically joyous.
(c) Aggressively cheerful.
(d) Exaggeratedly sad.

2. Why are there rumors about Sarah's parentage circulating around town?
(a) Her mother has had several affairs.
(b) She does not look or act like her family.
(c) She has an unusual way of speaking that sounds foreign.
(d) Everyone knows that the Dignans were not able to have their own children.

3. What does Bat's mother accuse him of constantly doing?
(a) Being too loud.
(b) Laughing inappropriately.
(c) Muttering.
(d) Stammering.

4. What technique is used in the sentence, "Slender reeds brush against one another as cleanly as freshly whetted blades" (13)?
(a) Metaphor.
(b) Simile.
(c) Personification.
(d) Euphemism.

5. What is Jimmy's intention when he asks the child at the bridge "What class of weapon is that" (14)?
(a) To alert Tug to the presence of a weapon.
(b) To demonstrate that he is the adult in the situation.
(c) To play along with the child's game.
(d) To find out if the child is actually dangerous.

6. What rhetorical purpose is served by explaining how the town council has dealt with the bridge situation?
(a) It portrays the government as a force of oppression.
(b) It establishes the tone of whimsy that continues with the child pretending to be a king.
(c) It creates dramatic irony because the characters do not know what the reader knows.
(d) It demonstrates that the government is not much help in the characters' lives.

7. What technique is used when, on page 23, Teddy describes Sarah's father as a "hair-covered pudding"?
(a) Metaphor.
(b) Simile.
(c) Metonymy.
(d) Synechdoche.

8. How old is Martina when the story opens?
(a) 19.
(b) 20.
(c) 21.
(d) 18.

9. What is Val's reaction to finding a pubic hair in his teeth?
(a) He is delighted.
(b) He is puzzled.
(c) He is embarrassed.
(d) He is disgusted.

10. What causes Bat's mother to tell him "You look constantly as if in want" (52)?
(a) His wide eyes.
(b) His drooping lip.
(c) His shaking hands.
(d) His skinny frame.

11. When Tug stands at Jimmy's side during their conversation with Marlene and Mark, how does Jimmy characterize Tug?
(a) As an unpredictable wild animal.
(b) As a brother he completely depends on.
(c) As a weapon under his control.
(d) As a loyal pet and guard dog.

12. In Bat's dream, what does the "mustard-seed" suit allude to?
(a) A Greek myth.
(b) A Jewish folktale.
(c) A film he saw in childhood.
(d) A passage in the Bible.

13. What does Val wonder if Martina knows about Joan Doody?
(a) Joan and Val have slept together.
(b) Joan is leaving soon for college in Dublin.
(c) Joan has a reputation for being dangerous.
(d) Joan has a crush on Davy Boran.

14. What does Bat find in the gas station's bathroom sink?
(a) A wad of toilet paper.
(b) A broken tube of lipstick.
(c) An empty beer can.
(d) A daddy long legs.

15. What is Martina's attitude toward the young customers trading phone numbers and kissing one another goodbye in the parking lot?
(a) Pleasure.
(b) Apathy.
(c) Envy.
(d) Scorn.

Short Answer Questions

1. In "Bait," Teddy describes Matteen as feeling "dolour" (19). What does this mean Matteen is feeling?

2. What technique is being used in the sentence, "He had gaping thyroidal eyes, the broad skull and delicately tissued temples of a monk" (29)?

3. Why does Matteen ride in the back of Teddy's car?

4. Which sentence most clearly conveys a thematic motif of this story?

5. Who tells Tansey to "be nice" (30)?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 602 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample