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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 “A Man With Strong Hands,” Smith’s masseur tells her that she never does what while getting a massage?

2. What “undeserved” thing does Smith say certain titles give to a crime?

3. What is written on the sign Smith first describes in “A Provocation in the Park”?

4. About how old is Barbra in “A Woman with a Little Dog”?

5. Who does Smith say taught her the dangers of systemic racism?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is Smith going to the ATM in “A Character in a Wheelchair in the Vestibule”?

2. How does Smith describe the nail salon and its clientele where she gets her massages in “A Man with Strong Hands”?

3. Why does Smith say she would likely commit suicide on the first hour of the first day of an apocalypse?

4. What does Smith say in regards to how certain crimes are categorized?

5. Who does Smith see in the ATM vestibule and what is her relationship with him?

6. How does Smith show that when she went to the ATM in the first story in “Screengrabs” it was early on in the pandemic?

7. Which famous New Yorker did Smith read about at the start of the pandemic and reference in “A Character in a Wheelchair in the Vestibule”?

8. How does Smith describe the way in which Barbara and other women in the city get older?

9. What does Smith tell her students about style each semester?

10. What does Smith say she learned from or appreciates about her parents and brother in “Intimations”?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay analyzing Cy’s character in “A Hovering Young Man.” What does he represent and how does the pandemic affect Cy? What is Smith’s tone in regards to the effect the pandemic has on people like Cy?

Essay Topic 2

In the final line of Intimations, Smith says that her “physical and moral cowardice have never really been tested, until now” (97). Write an essay exploring that line and including examples of this from the stories in Intimations.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay exploring the pandemic’s significance on each story in Intimations. Include how the pandemic affects the overall mood of the collection.

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