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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. In what manner are the customers said to turn toward the bank robbers?
(a) Cautiously.
(b) Slowly.
(c) Instantly.
(d) Reluctantly.

2. The man with the pistol asks Anders if he has what condition?
(a) If he is slow.
(b) If he is mute.
(c) If he has a hero complex.
(d) If he is deaf.

3. What verb is used to describe the way in which a robber walks along the line of bank tellers?
(a) Slink.
(b) Lurch.
(c) Stroll.
(d) Saunter.

4. Who places a sign in one of the bank tellers' windows?
(a) The security guard.
(b) The man with the pistol.
(c) A bank teller.
(d) The bank manager.

5. Again with the inclusion of sarcasm in his voice, Anders invokes the name of what Biblical place in response to the woman in front of him in line?
(a) Hell.
(b) Mount Zion.
(c) Purgatory.
(d) Heaven.

Short Answer Questions

1. Anders refers to the bank robbers using what phrase?

2. In what position is the guard lying after taking a blow from the man with the shotgun?

3. To what part of the guard's body does the man with the shotgun strike a blow?

4. Once there is a sign within the bank teller's window, she walks to what location?

5. After leaving her position, the bank teller begins to speak to another bank employee who is taking what action?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Anders invoke the idea of justice within the scene of the robbery?

2. What is the main conflict at the center of the story and who is involved in that conflict?

3. Discuss a moment in the story that reveals who is in charge of the bank robbery.

4. Contrast Anders's reaction to the bank robbery with the reaction of the woman in front of Anders in line.

5. How does Wolff use allusion within the story?

6. In what way is Anders shown to be hypocritical within the opening scene of the story?

7. For what purpose does the man with the sawed-off shotgun put down his weapon at one point?

8. What two-word name does the man with the pistol call Anders?

9. Provide an account of the chain reaction that leads to Wolff's revelation of the story's main conflict.

10. How is the motif of violence featured within the very first section of the story?

(see the answer keys)

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