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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 do the boys pay Alfonso for killing the soldier?

2. In “Galya’s Toast,” what does Galya NOT toast?

3. The townspeople want to leave their funerals and help Momma Galya drop off what in the mailboxes of those who have been arrested?

4. How "Soldiers Don't Like Looking Foolish" end?

5. What are the philosophical words mentioned in “Eulogy”?

Short Essay Questions

1. In “Townspeople Speak of Galya on Her Green Bicycle,” what does it say Momma Galya Armolinskaya has more than anyone else in town?

2. What do the beautiful women of Vasenka do?

3. What is the eulogy given at Alfonso’s funeral?

4. How is Alfonso treated by the townspeople in “A City Like a Guillotine Shivers on Its Way to the Neck”?

5. In “I, This Body,” how does Alfonso explain how he manages to make it through his wife’s funeral?

6. What takes place right before and after the killing of the soldier?

7. What are two things the speaker says in “Such Is the Story Made of Stubbornness and a Little Air”?

8. What do the boys of Vasenka want to do because Sonya was murdered?

9. How is the soldier treated prior to being killed?

10. The townspeople, who are the speakers, wish they could leave their funerals with Momma Galya and do what?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Momma Galya is poorly treated at the end of her life and even in death. How is she poorly treated? Why is she treated this way? What does this say about her community? In what other ways are others in this story abused, mistreated, and forgotten? How does this relate to current events in the U.S.?

Essay Topic 2

The collection of poetry begins and ends with poems about the U.S. What is the subject matter of these poems? What is the purpose of the poems? How do they relate to the rest of the poems? Why might the poet have chosen to have them as bookends for his collection?

Essay Topic 3

Throughout the poem the characters display bravery and cowardice. What are two examples of each? What is the reason they act courageously sometimes and fearful at other times? How does this reflect humanity as a whole?

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