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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is implied about Miss Coulson when she looks at the flowers "with the eye of a botanist" (334)?
(a) She is thinking of cutting them down.
(b) She is logical and unemotional.
(c) She is very intelligent.
(d) She is curious.

2. When Mr. Coulson complains about the cold, what is his servant's response?
(a) He offers to investigate the problem.
(b) He calls for Mrs. Widdup.
(c) He laughs.
(d) He shuts the windows.

3. On page 334, the narrator refers to the "panoply" of Miss Coulson's "unthrilled bosom." What is the meaning of "panoply" in this context?
(a) Ceremonial clothing.
(b) A suit of armor.
(c) An impressive array.
(d) Unemotional wisdom.

4. Which neighborhood does Mr. Coulson live in?
(a) Carnegie Hill.
(b) Chelsea.
(c) Lincoln Square.
(d) Gramercy Park.

5. Which bird is Mr. Coulson said to be "elder brother" to in May?
(a) Robin.
(b) Pigeon.
(c) Turtle-dove.
(d) Chickadee.

Short Answer Questions

1. According to the narrator, what does May want humans to remember?

2. There are "jonquils" near where Mr. Coulson is sitting. What are jonquils?

3. When the author compares May to Circe and explains the comparison at length, what literary technique is he using?

4. What is clear in the first interaction between Mr. Coulson, Miss Coulson, and Mrs. Widdup?

5. What physical gesture of affection does Mr. Coulson make toward Mrs. Widdup?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does O. Henry characterize the month of May?

2. What is the thematic significance of the olfactory image of the city in springtime?

3. When Mr. Coulson complains that no one in the house cares if he lives or dies, how does Mrs. Widdup's reply set the events of the story in motion?

4. How does O. Henry use dry humor to reveal the narrator's opinion about Mrs. Widdup in the narrative intrusion on page 333?

5. When Mr. Coulson comments that the spring weather is "lovely," his daughter replies "That's just it" (334). What does she mean by her reply?

6. What is Miss Coulson's plan to head off her father's budding romance?

7. In the passage where Miss Coulson stares out the window, the reader is told "The chirp of the sparrows gave her a pain. She mocked at May" (334). To what earlier passage is this a reference, and what is the significance of the reference?

8. What is the rhetorical purpose of the allusions to Puck and Circe?

9. What happens overnight that changes Mrs. Widdup and Mr. Coulson's fate?

10. When Miss Coulson says that the supposedly chilly weather is "An instance...of winter lingering in the lap of spring," what double meaning does she have in mind? (335).

(see the answer keys)

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