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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. When they find a beautiful garden with a stream that looks like a fairy grotto, what does one of the boys do?

2. Who offers to tell the next story?

3. How did the narrator first meet the detective?

4. Who comes for the narrator right at the end of the story?

5. What does the narrator talk to Miss Finch about in the refreshment room?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe how the detective solves the mystery in 'A Study in Emerald.'

2. Why do you think the narrator gives up his old life, and why does he pretend to be the professor?

3. Is the playhouse evil or magical, or was it just the narrator's imagination?

4. Why do you think the double bass allows him to play beautiful music this one time?

5. Why does the poet cast aside all his possessions and his old life in the poem 'Going Wodwo'?

6. Why does the narrator see a Haitian coffee girl at the end of the story?

7. Describe the character of the detective in 'A Study in Emerald.'

8. In the last story in 'Strange Little Girls,' two alternate stories are offered about a woman who lived during the war. Which one offers the happier ending?

9. In the poem 'The Hidden Chamber,' is there anything that is actually hidden?

10. Describe the character of Miss Finch.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is the 'Problem of Susan'? How does the author attempt to address it? Do you think he has succeeded? What do you think the author's opinion of the Problem of Susan is? What is your opinion and why?

Essay Topic 2

What kinds of fragile things can be found in the stories and poems in this collection? What do they symbolize or represent? Why are they fragile, and how has the author communicated this sense of fragility?

Essay Topic 3

How is fairyland represented in the stories and poems in this collection? What does the author have to say about magic?

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