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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. What does the detail of Eda's trembling in Frank's hotel room indicate?

2. What does Alan notice about Frank when Frank gets out of the car with Eda after they drop her off?

3. What is the narrator implying about Brenda's discussion of her children with the comment "The first act was over.... Now came the plot" (37)?

4. What is Eda's reaction to Frank's suggestion that she be "shared" between him and Alan?

5. What is the English translation of the word "Basta" (41)?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the narrative imply happens between Alan and Eda on the night before the story ends, and what is Alan's reaction to it in the morning?

2. Whom do Frank and Alan meet in Arezzo, and how do they meet her?

3. When Frank and Alan are leaving a Spoleto restaurant with Eda between them, what does the clerk say, and what is his meaning?

4. What has happened in Brenda's life since she and Frank broke up?

5. What is symbolic about the car that Frank and Alan are in while they tour Europe?

6. What happens between Frank and Eda in his hotel room?

7. What do Frank and Brenda fight about when it is time for her to leave Italy, and how does Alan become involved in the argument?

8. When the second part of the story opens, where are Alan and Frank, and who is with them?

9. In the story's closing paragraphs, what is Alan thinking about, and why?

10. What does Brenda suggest to Frank about New York, and what is it implied that she is hinting about?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In a well-known interview with Edward Hirsch, Salter said, "Pure masculinity...is tedious and inadequate." Write an essay in which you analyze the extent to which "American Express" supports this observation. Use textual evidence to support your claims.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay that analyzes how and why Salter adapts the third-person point of view to shift perspective from one character to another. Support your claims with evidence from the text.

Essay Topic 3

Look up some characteristic examples of Impressionist paintings. Then, write an essay that compares Salter's writing style to the visual style of Impressionist painting. Use examples from the text to support your claims, and cite outside sources in MLA format.

(see the answer keys)

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