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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What was the speaker's grandmother listening to in the car in the example he uses of the unxclamation point?
(a) A meditation tape.
(b) Barry Manilow.
(c) An audio version of Shoah.
(d) National Public Radio.

2. Where was the narrator's grandmother driving him to in the example he cites of her use of the unxclamation point?
(a) Piano lessons.
(b) Work.
(c) School.
(d) Karate.

3. What topic typically results in willed silence on the part of the speaker?
(a) His grades.
(b) His heart.
(c) His schooling.
(d) His relationships with girls.

4. Which punctuation mark does the speaker say is the "staple of familial punctuation"(1)?
(a) The willed silence mark.
(b) The insistent question mark.
(c) The confusion mark.
(d) The silence mark.

5. What does the narrator say he has never had with any member of his family?
(a) A heated argument.
(b) A nice time.
(c) An enjoyable conversation.
(d) A disappointing visit.

Short Answer Questions

1. What punctuation is used the double question mark as its symbol?

2. Which of the speaker's family members most uses the pedal point with him?

3. How many heart attacks does the speaker say his family has "and counting" (1)?

4. What did the speaker's grandmother say to him in his example of the unxclamation point?

5. What did the speaker's father say to his children after the argument with the stranger as he held his hand to his heart?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the speaker's father engage with the angry man in the example he uses of the extra exclamation points?

2. What symbol represents the pedal point? What does it mean? How is it different from an ellipses or dash?

3. How did the exchange between the speaker's father and the stranger end? What conclusion did the father come to in regards to his handling of the situation?

4. Which member of the family uses the pedal point most with the speaker? Why?

5. What does the silence mark symbolize? How often does the speaker say it exists in his family's history?

6. How often does the speaker say the extra exclamation points are used in his family? Based on your understanding if his family, is this surprising? Explain.

7. How does the speaker describe his relationships with women?

8. What is the insistent question mark? When is it used per the speaker's example?

9. What do we learn of the speaker's family health history in the first paragraph? Describe the context.

10. What conversation does the speaker use to exemplify the silence mark? To whom is he speaking? What is the subject of their conversation?

(see the answer keys)

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