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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. In what location does Holly discover the Outsider's clothes after his demise?

2. How many children in total were in the dancing club the year Chuck joined?

3. How long before Chuck "died of a brain tumor" did he tell "his wife the truth about the scar on the back of his hand" (146)?

4. Albie told Chuck that he visited the cupola so infrequently because it was full of what?

5. When Holly gets a call in the section entitled "December 15, 2020," she then travels home to which state?

Short Essay Questions

1. What sort of coping mechanisms does Holly use to cope with the effects of her past trauma?

2. In what way does the motif of dreams appear within the story entitled "If It Bleeds"?

3. What is the significance of the term "orphant" (150) in Act I: I Contain Multitudes in the story entitled "The Life of Chuck"?

4. At what age did Chuck start calling his grandparents Grandma and Grandpa and why?

5. What is revealed to be the true source of Chuck's crescent-shaped scar?

6. What does King mean when he writes of the cupola, "But fascination is fear's twin brother" (137)?

7. What did Chuck's grandfather Albie tell him during his childhood about why no one ever entered the cupola in the family home?

8. What is the significance of the phrase "Twirlers and Spinners" (143) in Act I: I Contain Multitudes of "The Life of Chuck"?

9. For what reason does King include an allusion to Walt Whitman's "Song of Myself" in Act I: I Contain Multitudes of the story "The Life of Chuck"?

10. Who are Pete and Jerome within the story "If It Bleeds"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Look carefully at the passages of If It Bleeds that describe strong marriage partnerships, such as the longtime union between Chuck's grandparents. What is King’s purpose for extensively portraying the characteristics of a strong marriage and its power to transform?

Essay Topic 2

Analyze the ways in which the themes of adaptability and resignation appear within King’s collection If It Bleeds. What message is King sending about these two themes over the course of the narrative?

Essay Topic 3

In what way does King utilize irony within the text? Discuss at least three uses of irony within If It Bleeds and explore each instance's connection to larger themes contained within the piece.

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