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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. Whom did Assunta have "nothing but harsh words for" (7)?

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

3. What did foreigners say about Italian fishermen when they saw Salvatore on the beach?

4. How many children did Assunta and Salvatore have?

5. What did Salvatore do for work when he was not fishing after he married and had children?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happened to Assunta's fiancé?

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

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

4. 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?

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

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay exploring the central purpose of this story. What response do you think the author hoped to get from his readers? Do you think he was successful? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay analyzing narrative voice in Maugham of "Salvatore." Include thoughts on how the narrative voice of the story is effective in conveying the story’s themes.

Essay Topic 3

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

(see the answer keys)

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