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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. When asked by the semi-truck driver, "Is everybody dead?" How does the narrator respond?
(a) "No, not everbody."
(b) "Yes, everybody is dead."
(c) "I can't tell who is and who isn't."
(d) "How should I know."

2. At the end of Story 5, the narrator says, "Your husband will beat you with a(n) ________ and the bus will pull away leaving you standing there in tears, but you were my ________."
(a) Extension cord / mother.
(b) Baseball bat / sister.
(c) Belt / friend.
(d) Tire iron / wife.

3. How does the narrator's "new companion" communicate in Story 2?
(a) By sign language.
(b) By song.
(c) With pictures.
(d) In pig-latin.

4. Where does Dundun live?
(a) In the back of his car.
(b) In a subway tunnel.
(c) At the farmhouse.
(d) In an apartment.

5. What type of party is Jack Hotel throwing for himself at the bar in Story 3?
(a) A going away party.
(b) A welcome home party.
(c) A birthday party.
(d) A bachelor party.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who is the narrator of Story 2 referring to when he says, "I'd better just go after him, instead of waiting"?

2. Before bringing the narrator home, who does the Salesman want to stop and see in Story 1?

3. The narrator states that ________ is like a railroad club car that had somehow run itself off the tracks into a swamp of time where it awaited the blows of the wrecking ball.

4. Whose birthday is it in Story 4?

5. What type of vehicle does the narrator of Story 2 drive?

Short Essay Questions

1. The most telling image is the one quoted in Story 1 that of the narrator being showered with human blood. What does being "showered with human blood" represent?

2. Discuss the mini-theme of the manifestation of nature a seen in Story 1.

3. Discuss the scene where the narrator and his friends meet their new companion in Story 2.

4. Who is Richard and Tom? Discuss the friendship the narrator has with these two men.

5. Define the literary term of tone. What is the tone of Story 1?

6. Who is Wayne? Describe his relationship with the narrator in Story 5.

7. Who encourages the narrator of Story 5 to work with him? What type of work do they perform? Explain.

8. Is Richard the one who the narrator briefly describes as being injured and arrested during a burglary attempt? Explain.

9. Who is Thatcher? What type of relationship does Thatcher have with the narrator?

10. While working with Wayne at the abandoned house, what is the narrator and Wayne distracted by? Who is this person?

(see the answer keys)

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