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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. How is Assunta described physically?

2. What simile is used to describe Salvatore's hands while he bathes his children?

3. What would Salvatore do when his rheumatism made it impossible for him to work?

4. What does Assunta seem always to by touched by regarding Salvatore?

5. What rare quality does the narrator say he was trying to paint a portrait of in his story "Salvatore"?

Short Essay Questions

1. Though Salvatore found Assunta physically unattractive, what could she offer him if they married?

2. How did Salvatore's family learn he was not going to marry the girl he loved?

3. What did Salvatore's fiancé tell him "with the blunt directness of her race" (5) when he went to see her at her home after he returned rom military service?

4. How is Assunta described after she and Salvatore marry? What does she look like? What type of person is she?

5. What happened to Assunta's fiancé?

6. What would Salvatore do if his rheumatism became too bad for him to work?

7. Describe Salvatore washing his babies near the end of the story?

8. Why does Salvatore understand that the girl he loves will not marry him?

9. What did Salvatore do for work after he and Assunta married?

10. What does the narrator say he set out to do in the story?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay about Assunta. Who is she? What does she symbolize? Describe her relationship with Salvatore.

Essay Topic 2

What conflicts exist in "Salvatore"? How does conflict develop the themes of goodness, longing, and love?

Essay Topic 3

Examine how fishing plays a part in the plot of "Salvatore."

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 550 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample