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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. When the "Diamonds" narrator meets the woman in the city, what does he tell her about his life?
(a) He tells her about being a gym teacher at Saint Carmichael's.
(b) He makes up lies based on other people's lives.
(c) He tells her about his parents and his sister.
(d) He tells her about his substance abuse problem and Siobhán.

2. What does Eli tell the barman when they are outside having a cigarette?
(a) That he has a wife and child.
(b) That Doran is not a close friend of his.
(c) That he used to be married to Maryanne.
(d) That he is trying to quit smoking.

3. What is the "Diamonds" narrator hiding with his long sleeves?
(a) Bruises.
(b) Scars.
(c) Tattoos.
(d) Needle tracks.

4. What is the antecedent of "it" in the story's ending, when the barman thinks "the man will come back for it" (210)?
(a) Doran's photograph of Maryanne.
(b) Doran's wallet.
(c) Eli's umbrella.
(d) Eli's overcoat.

5. On page 176, how does the "Diamonds" narrator describe the smell inside his car that makes him gag?
(a) "Luminous."
(b) "Holy."
(c) "Fetid."
(d) "Desperate."

6. How did the "Diamonds" narrator's cat die?
(a) He escaped the narrator's flat and ran into traffic.
(b) While drunk, the narrator rolled on him and suffocated him.
(c) He found and ate drugs the narrator had stashed in his closet.
(d) The narrator forgot to give him food and water.

7. What technique is used when Paudi says that he will "have to take [the dog] for a walk up the heather" (135)?
(a) Euphemism.
(b) Allegory.
(c) Personification.
(d) Synechdoche.

8. What technique is employed in the phrase "the bright white furnace of cold" (175)?
(a) Paradox.
(b) Juxtaposition.
(c) Irony.
(d) Oxymoron.

9. Dympna is convinced that Hector is "working the slow grift" on the woman in Ballintober (98). What does this mean he thinks Hector is doing?
(a) Spending time with her to con her out of money.
(b) Stringing her along until he finds a woman he likes better.
(c) Limiting their time together so she does not find out how he makes his money.
(d) Pretending to like her so that he can have sex with her.

10. What is the first clue that Arm has died?
(a) Maire's repeated urging about getting medical attention.
(b) The shift in tone from bright and cheerful to mournful and dark.
(c) The old man in fishing gear reappearing.
(d) The shift in the narrator's focus from Arm to Maire.

11. What is the most accurate characterization of Rebecca's comments about Brandon's band and Glanbeigh?
(a) Dismissive.
(b) Amused.
(c) Insincere.
(d) Naive.

12. What piece of information does Arm reveal to Paudi that surprises even Dympna?
(a) Jack loves horses.
(b) Charlie has run away.
(c) Fannigan is dead.
(d) Ursula is in college.

13. What was different about the song that was finally a hit for Doran and Eli's band?
(a) Maryanne sang lead.
(b) Doran wrote the music.
(c) Eli wrote the lyrics.
(d) It was a punk-rock song.

14. What does an examination of his own hands reveal to the "Diamonds" narrator?
(a) He has never done an honest day's work.
(b) They remind him of his deceased father's hands.
(c) He is slowly killing himself with alcohol.
(d) He is getting old.

15. After Paudi shows Dympna the injured dog, what question does he ask Dympna?
(a) Whether Dympna will euthanize the dog for him.
(b) Whether he knows of a good vet.
(c) Whether he thinks they can trust a vet to come to the farm.
(d) Whether Hector already told him what happened

Short Answer Questions

1. Which word best describes the uncles' house?

2. What sport did the "Diamonds" narrator excel in as a teenager?

3. On page 175, what does the "Diamonds" narrator say appeals to him about Siobhán Maher?

4. Why is Doran trying to ignore the ticking of the clock above the bar?

5. Dympna's comments about being able to change the uncles' minds on the day after Arm kills Flannigan are an example of what technique?

(see the answer keys)

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