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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. While onstage delivering his lines, who does Stephen see in the audience?
(a) the girl from the tram
(b) Father Arnall
(c) his father with a strange woman
(d) Uncle Charles and Dante

2. What was Stephen's early song?
(a) Old Dan tucker
(b) O, the Wild Rose Blooms
(c) In the Gloaming
(d) The Irish Lullaby

3. What choice is given two of the older boys after the group of runaways is returned to Clongowes?
(a) a choice between flogging or the stocks
(b) a choice between flogging and expulsion
(c) a choice between flogging or the gauntlet
(d) a choice between flogging or public humiliation

4. What happens in Stephen's poem about the girl in the tram?
(a) He calls her Mercedes.
(b) He helps her off the tram.
(c) He kisses her.
(d) He sits her in his lap.

5. During table conversation, what is a local Catholic priest accused of?
(a) mixing politics into his sermons
(b) molesting children
(c) teaching apostacy
(d) getting drunk on communion wine

6. Why is Stephen exempted from his classes?
(a) because he is still running a fever
(b) because his glasses are broken
(c) because he was perfect on his exams
(d) because he broke his arm

7. Who does Stephen fantasize about marrying when he grows up?
(a) Dante
(b) Eileen
(c) His mother
(d) Margaret

8. What are Stephen's father and the priests always urging him to do?
(a) to work harder at his lessons
(b) to enter the priesthood
(c) to confess his sins daily
(d) to be a gentleman and a good Catholic

9. Who does Stephen suspect is also in the audience the night of the play?
(a) Mercedes
(b) Margaret
(c) the girl from the tram
(d) Josephine

10. How do the boys see Stephen after he talks with the rector?
(a) as an enemy
(b) as a sneak
(c) as a hero
(d) as a tattle tale

11. What happens to Stephen's hands when Father Dolan does not believe his glasses broke by accident?
(a) They are given whacks with the pandybat.
(b) They are placed in hot water.
(c) They are tied behind his back.
(d) They are pressed against the wall.

12. What does Stephen pretend not to notice when his mother says goodbye to him at school?
(a) that she was in a hurry to leave
(b) that she wore too much perfume
(c) that her hat was on backwards
(d) that she was going to cry

13. What is a major theme of the book?
(a) Coming of age
(b) Catholicism versus Protestantism
(c) Irish nationalism and Irish identity
(d) Catholic education versus public education

14. What goes through Stephen's mind about the beautiful girl at the party?
(a) How he could easily catch hold of her and kiss her.
(b) How much she looks like Mercedes.
(c) How she is too old for him.
(d) How he would like to kick her.

15. What does Stephen wonder about Father Arnall's getting upset?
(a) if he will have a stroke
(b) if he hates boys
(c) if it means trouble
(d) if it is a sin

Short Answer Questions

1. By summer, where has the family moved?

2. For what does Stephen continually search?

3. After the punishment, what do the boys urge Stephen to do?

4. What is the rumor about the five boys who ran away from Clongowes?

5. What habit does Stephen hang onto?

(see the answer keys)

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