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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. As Edmund is spying on Dupin near the cemetery, whom does he see emerge from the Hotel American House and enter Mrs. Whitman's house?
(a) Throck.
(b) Fortnoy.
(c) Peterson.
(d) Rachett.

2. What is lost from the ship besides the two men aboard?
(a) The gold bars stolen from the bank.
(b) Wads of cash.
(c) Sis's book.
(d) Poe's story.

3. With whom is Dupin's first encounter at the cemetery?
(a) Edmund.
(b) Edmund's dead aunt.
(c) Throck.
(d) Mrs. Whitman.

4. How do the kidnappers plan to use Edmund's sister?
(a) As a servant.
(b) As an accomplice.
(c) As a bargaining tool.
(d) As a seamstress.

5. What does Edmund see on the tavern wall?
(a) A poster advertising a ransom for the return of Edmund's aunt.
(b) A poster advertising a reward for finding Mrs. G. Rachett.
(c) A poster advertising a reward for finding the bank robbers.
(d) A poster advertising a ransom for the return of Edmund's sister.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does one of the newspaper notices say?

2. What does Dupin admit to Edmund about himself?

3. What does Poe's style of courting Mrs. Whitman reflect?

4. When Edmund follows Dupin to see if he will meet Mrs. Whitman in the cemetery, Dupin first goes into a _____.

5. What does the style of the novel mimic?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the symbolism, in Chapter 13, of Dupin's imagining that Helen's mothers guests are demons wearing masks of black death?

2. What is the significance, in Chapter 16, of Edmund throwing himself at a man with a gun?

3. What is the turning point Edmund experiences in Chapter 14?

4. Why do both Dupin and Edmund frequently believe they have seen ghosts?

5. Why do you think Dupin decides that his work is done after summing up the details of the solved mystery in Chapter 17?

6. Do you think Poe is able to make up his own mind whether or not to root for Edmund's happiness, or does his nature force him to hope for the worst?

7. How does Edmund's character change by Chapter 18, compared to the Prologue?

8. Why is it significant in Chapter 19 that Edmund decodes an important riddle while all the adults around him sleep?

9. Why is it significant in Chapter 14 that Edmund first begins to doubt Dupin's detective skills after talking to Captain Elias?

10. Why do you think the author uses the circular technique of starting Poe's story in a way that is identical to the start of the novel?

(see the answer keys)

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