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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. Who is the oldest of the Baudelaire orphans?

2. How many windows are in the Squalor penthouse, according to the narrator?

3. When Jerome and the children arrive back home from their dinner at Café Salmonella, what does the doorman tell them is now "in"?

4. Why doesn't Jerome want to force Gunther to remove his boots?

5. According to Esme, what is illegal to auction off?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the importance of the Baudelaire orphans' new guardians being named Squalor?

2. Why does Violet stop arguing with Esme about Gunther's true identity?

3. Why does the narrator state the element of surprise won't be on the table of elements in a chemistry?

4. What is the importance of the Baudelaire orphans' friends being named Quagmire?

5. Why is it important to know that Jerome Squalor could have adopted the Baudelaire children earlier but did not because orphans were not "in"?

6. What is ironic about Sunny saying "Hansel" and "Gretel" when the children are trying to come up with a way to search the penthouse and not get lost?

7. How does the atmosphere on Dark Avenue mirror the orphans' feelings in Chapter 1?

8. What is significant about the doorman's comments that all problems have a solution, and the solution is sometimes under the nose?

9. What is significant about the Squalor library and its inventory?

10. What role does the scene at Café Salmonella play in the overall plot of the story?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How has political correctness changed the face of our society? Examine examples of political correctness gone array (such as the Squalors' reaction to Gunther's accent). Explain how their fear of breaking the social bonds of political correctness prevents the adults from seeing past an otherwise ridiculous disguise. Use examples from the text to justify your position.

Essay Topic 2

How does the location of the Squalor's apartment foreshadow the events of the story? Use examples from the text to support your answer.

Essay Topic 3

What does the term "ersatz" mean and how is it used throughout the novel? Use examples from the text to support your answer.

(see the answer keys)

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