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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 are the only two things Fiona does each morning once Aubrey has departed from Meadowlake?

2. What does Fiona do during mealtimes after Aubrey's departure from Meadowlake?

3. What activity does Grant often do with Fiona in the reading room once she refuses to go anywhere else?

4. When Grant describes the sexual revolution as an "epidemic," (302) what malady does he name?

5. Which member of the Meadowlake staff calls Grant in to talk about Fiona?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Kristy say when Grant asks what is the matter with Fiona?

2. Discuss an instance when Munro utilizes white space in order to magnify the emotional messages in a certain passage.

3. Describe the favor Fiona asks of Grant and why this is such a poignant moment in the narrative.

4. What holds Grant back from asking "the most obvious" and "most necessary" (293) question?

5. How is Aubrey's malady different than Fiona's malady?

6. Why is Marian unwilling to place Aubrey into Meadowlake on a full-time basis?

7. What is significant about the way in which Grant's relationship with Jacqui ends?

8. How is Aubrey's residence at Meadowlake different than Fiona's status there?

9. Which eras are included in the story of Grant and Fiona's marriage and how do you know?

10. What is "the most obvious" and "most necessary question" (293) mentioned by the narrator upon several occasions?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss Munro's choice to tell the story of "The Bear Came Over the Mountain" using a third person omniscient narrator who knows all about Grant’s most private thoughts, feelings, and actions. What elements of the story's themes lend themselves to this choice and what are Munro’s intended effects on the reader?

Essay Topic 2

Look carefully at the passages of "The Bear Came Over the Mountain" that describe the nature of Grant’s infidelities over his five decades of marriage to Fiona. What is Munro’s purpose for discussing at length the nature of these experiences?

Essay Topic 3

What message does Munro send within the pages of "The Bear Came Over the Mountain" concerning the link between self-awareness and guilt?

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