View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. When the narrator describes watching his lover as she sleeps, what does he say that makes the reader know their time together is temporary?
(a) "Our time together is as fleeting as the night."
(b) "She's next to me and isn't away from me like she will be later."
(c) "She is here today and will be gone tomorrow."
(d) "She is by my side for the time being."

2. What does the narrator note about his lover as he looks at her in bed when he first wakes?
(a) Her long eyelashes.
(b) How good her skin is.
(c) Her perfect lips.
(d) The sheen of her hair.

3. What question does the narrator recall his lover asking him while they were in bed one day?
(a) She asked if he thought she was fat.
(b) She asked if he thought she was dumb.
(c) She asked if he thought she was pretty or no.
(d) She asked if he thought she should dye her hair.

4. Who is the author of "Break It Down"?
(a) Lynn Donahue.
(b) Leslie Daniels.
(c) Danielle Lyons.
(d) Lydia Davis.

5. What else did the narrator see in his dreams beyond the dark frame of empty space?
(a) A house.
(b) A garden.
(c) A bed.
(d) A child.

Short Answer Questions

1. What still surprises the narrator about his relationship at the start of the story?

2. What "old" (22) thing does the narrator say he cannot look at without still feeling what he feels his lover?

3. What does the narrator say he kept dreaming about while with his lover?

4. How much does the narrator calculate his love making cost?

5. What were the narrator and his lover doing in the "very clean white place" (24) he recalls?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the narrators dream, which he has lying beside his lover.

2. Why does the narrator choose not to kiss his lover's eyelids as he wants to while he watches her sleep?

3. What surprising question did the narrator's lover ask him in bed one day? How did he respond? What did she think of his response?

4. What type of questions does the narrator say he begins to ask himself after "the pictures start to go" (25) of his time with his lover?

5. How do the feelings about the narrator's affair linger after it ends at first?

6. The narrator describes a moment in bed when his lover talked nonstop late into the night, her mouth close to his ear. How did he feel during that time?

7. Based on what the narrator says he spent in the first few paragraphs, what did he and his lover do during their trip?

8. What does the narrator note about his lover's skin when he talks about waking up and looking at her?

9. How does the narrator describe his lover's behavior during the time they spend together before making love?

10. After including the entire day he and his lover spend together and all the bits that add up, how much does he say he has spent per hour?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 881 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample