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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. The author of Love, Your Only Mother hails from where?

2. How does the author say the night had fallen in The Falling Girl?

3. What are the Maori tribesmen fishing for in At the River?

4. What does the daughter of the lord become obsessed with finding in The Blue Jar?

5. In what voice and tense is Welcoming the Board of Directors written?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the scene that is the central subject in Preparations? What does the author consider?

2. What is the taboo subject central in the story The Boy? How does the narrative play out?

3. What is the central conflict facing the family in An Insolvable Problem of Genetics? How do they go about remedying it?

4. What is the central theme in Gregory? How does the author represent this theme through the executioner in the narrative?

5. What takes place in the story Homage to Isaac Babel? Who are the main characters?

6. How is the story On Hope different thematically and structurally from other narratives of the collection?

7. How does On Hope end? Where is the gypsy in the end of the narrative?

8. What is the setting of The Falling Girl? Who is the central character and what action does she take in the beginning of the story?

9. What is the central plot in The Elephant? Why does the protagonist choose to build an inflatable elephant?

10. What is the girl given in The Grasshopper and the Bell Cricket? Why is she excited?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe the plot, characters and narrative style of One of These Days. How does this story differ from Marquez's more well-known works? What political themes are evident in the narrative?

Essay Topic 2

Describe Doris Lessing's career, style and awards. How is Lessing's work represented in Homage to Isaac Babel? What recurring themes appear in Lessing's works?

Essay Topic 3

House Opposite presents an opposing image of societal piety from La Volpaia, one western and one eastern. Describe these different views and how they are reflected in the protagonists.

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