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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. Anders is said to take what action "through his fingers" (34) as he apologizes to the man with the pistol?

2. What verb is used to describe the effect the bullet has on Anders's skull when he is shot?

3. What consequence does the man with the pistol say he will dole out if Anders takes a certain action?

4. The narrator states that there is "gilt scrollwork" (26) over what feature of the bank?

5. Between utterances of the word the man with the pistol had just said, Anders invokes the name of what deity?

Short Essay Questions

1. Where are the entrance and exit wounds inflicted by the bullet to Anders's head?

2. What season and time of day are portrayed within Anders's one witnessed memory?

3. In what way does Anders react to the man with the pistol's use of 1940s slang and what is the end result?

4. What factors lead to the memory from "forty years past" (35) being called up rather than another memory?

5. What piece of 1940s slang does the man with the pistol use and how does Anders react?

6. In what way does the narrator make a distinction between different kinds of time?

7. What specific reaction does Anders have to his vision of a cartoon bubble and how do you know?

8. What is ironic about the mural artist's portrayal of the story of Zeus and Europa?

9. Describe the eyes of the man with the pistol.

10. What is Anders's reply to the question he is asked the third time he is called "Bright boy" (27)?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

William Faulkner once famously claimed that the most important literature deals with the subject of the human heart in conflict with itself. Explain how the theme of Human versus Self is demonstrated within Wolff’s story “Bullet in the Brain.” Create a decisive, arguable claim and prove it with quotes from the story.

Essay Topic 2

Look carefully at Anders’s language use throughout the story. What is Wolff’s purpose for shaping Anders’s voice in the way that he does? For example, why does Wolff choose to have Anders make an allusion to an Ernest Hemingway story as he is remarking on the robbers’ use of language?

Essay Topic 3

Analyze Anders’ fascination with language throughout the story and trace how his relationship to language changes over the course of his life.

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