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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. Where did Martina stay in Holland?

2. Why is Val not very surprised that one of the four underage girls who tries to enter the club knows him by name?

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

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

5. What does Jimmy use to write "Marry Me" on Mark's car?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Bat think that something inappropriate has happened between Heg and Tain?

2. What is the rhetorical purpose of Heg's character being a college student?

3. Who is Nubbin Tansey, and what trouble does he cause at Quillinan's Pub?

4. How does Teddy end up in Bleak Woods, and what happens to him, there?

5. What happens when the four underage girls arrive at the club on the night the story opens?

6. What in Tug's interaction with the children at the bridge demonstrates the softer side of his nature?

7. What happened to Bat at Monroe's takeaway?

8. What does Tain bring with her to the bar, and what ends up happening to it?

9. What is the relationship between Jimmy and Marlene?

10. How did Matteen and Sarah first get together, and how did their relationship end?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In "The Moon," Martina seems scornful toward the town where she was raised and the people who have chosen to remain there. This sentiment is expressed by "leavers" and outsiders in several stories in Young Skins. Do the stories offer any counterclaims from the perspectives of the small-town inhabitants, or do the stories leave this perspective unchallenged? Write an essay that makes and defends a claim about what the stories seem to be saying about the value of staying in an environment like Glanbeigh. Use evidence from "The Moon" and at least two other stories to support your ideas.

Essay Topic 2

Write and essay that makes and defends a claim about the symbolic significance of the children playing at the bridge in "The Clancy Kid." Use textual evidence to support your ideas.

Essay Topic 3

Loyalty to and support of family is an important cultural value in rural Ireland. But in Young Skins, not all "family" is biological. Write an essay that compares and contrasts the "found families" and the "biological families" in the anthology and makes a claim about the thematic significance of the similarities and differences between them. Use evidence from throughout the anthology to defend your ideas.

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