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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. What room number is Muriel Glass staying in at the hotel?

2. Why does Eloise marry her husband?

3. What time of year is the story, Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut, set?

4. How often does the Comanche Club meet?

5. What is Muriel Glass doing when the call comes through from the hotel operator?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Ginnie think Selena's brother looks goofy?

2. What makes the reader think that perhaps Eric is not allowed into the military because he is homosexual?

3. What does the floating red tissue represent in The Laughing Man?

4. What leads the reader to believe that tension is building throughout the story?

5. Why does Eloise so fondly remember Walt?

6. What does the reader learn about Muriel's mother during the "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" story?

7. Why doesn't the narrator list all of the Chief's attributes?

8. What is wrong physically with Ramona?

9. What is Seymour hospitalized for?

10. Why aren't there any men 'seen' in the story, Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

New York and Connecticut are widely used throughout the book. What generalizations can be made about each city after having read Nine Stories? Do you want to go to either place? Do you live in either place? Does the story collection make you want to visit either place? Use examples from the book to explain your answers.

Essay Topic 2

The wealthy and bored housewife character is written about in a couple of the short stories in Salinger's collection. Explore this character by comparing and contrasting the women. What do they have in common? Why is this a returning type of character in the collection?

Essay Topic 3

In For Esme - With Love and Squalor, a young girl becomes a powerful leader in recovery for the narrator. Why is Esme able to be so helpful to a solider that is so adversely affected by the war? What simple acts help him most? Why isn't his family able to help as much as Esme? How does a 13-year-old that he meets one time leave such a lasting impression?

(see the answer keys)

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