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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 does Paul call the balanced stones?

2. How is the cement sidewalk designed, according to Paul's description?

3. What does Paul's mother get for him to help with his new vagueness?

4. As Paul remembers, how many times does his mother ask him to pass the plate at the luncheon table?

5. What does Paul notice about his window as he stands underneath it in Part 2?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Paul begin to wonder about as he stands in front of his house?

2. What does Paul think will happen if he tells people about his secret?

3. What does the snow represent for Paul on his walk home?

4. What is noticeably different in the tone and pace of Part 4?

5. How does the author display Paul's intelligence level?

6. How is the snow talking to Paul in the beginning of Part 4, and what is it saying?

7. How does the snow describe the story it is about to tell Paul as Silent Snow, Secret Snow ends, and what does the story represent?

8. What is the interruption that occurs in Part 4, and how is it received?

9. How is Paul's secret first introduced?

10. How does Paul's street appear, according to his description in Part 2?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

As Paul withdraws into his room, his mother follows him and opens the door, interrupting the snow's agenda and signaling the final events of the story.

1) Describe the way Paul's mother is perceived by both Paul and the snow, and how those perceptions display the extreme illogical state he is in.

2) What is Paul's response to his mother, and how does the way he reaches for his response indicate his separation from life?

3) Why is Paul's mother unable to help him? How is Paul completely detached from himself at this point? How does the way he responds to his mother represent the final barrier between him and the snow?

4) Explain the way Paul thinks after he rejects his mother's help, what is strange about it and what it eventually leads to. What is the last thing that Paul sees, and how does it reflect the length of the story?

Essay Topic 2

Describe the character of Deirdre. What do her character traits represent for Paul? Why does she try to get his attention? What does his response indicate? In general, how does Deirdre illustrate Paul's disconnect with the world he knows? Why is that important to the theme of the story?

Essay Topic 3

Paul's mother is an important element to the story.

1) Describe her role in the story as it develops. Which of her characteristics stood out to you the most? Why?

2) Explain the similarities and differences between Paul's mother and father and the way they are both depicted in the story. Which one has a stronger place in Paul's life? Why?

(see the answer keys)

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