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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 comic about the turn of phrase "she withstood the attack of the ethereal mildness" (334)?
(a) The contradiction in the terms "attack" and "ethereal mildness."
(b) The idea that "mildness" could be "ethereal."
(c) The surprise ending to a well-known phrase.
(d) The understatement of the danger.

2. How does the narrator suggest the reader should respond to the poet who praises the month of May?
(a) With a poem that condemns May.
(b) With a punch in the eye.
(c) With more accurate scientific information.
(d) With laughter.

3. When Mr. Coulson asks for his "aconite," what is he asking for (333)?
(a) An herbal medicine used to treat pain and inflammation.
(b) A religious text that provides commentary on the Bible.
(c) A wooden cane with a carved top.
(d) A hot breakfast cereal, like porridge or gruel.

4. Why is Mr. Coulson so clumsy on the afternoon after the ice is delivered?
(a) He is frustrated that he has not yet been able to confess his feelings to Mrs. Widdup.
(b) He is angry at Miss Coulson's meddling.
(c) He is upset because of the cold.
(d) He is nervous about speaking to Mrs. Widdup.

5. What does Miss Coulson's believe about love?
(a) That it is humiliating.
(b) That it is a pretense.
(c) That it is overpowering.
(d) That it is inconvenient.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the "twist" at the end of this story?

2. What are the details about the iceman's sleeves and hat intended to convey?

3. Why does Mr. Coulson hesitate as he says, "In the spring...a y -- that is a man's -- fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love" (333)?

4. Which of the following literary techniques is used in the title "The Marry Month of May"?

5. Miss Coulson has a "lorgnette" (334). What is a lorgnette?

Short Essay Questions

1. Explain the technique at work in the sentences "Sparrows wrangled happily everywhere outdoors. Never trust May" (333).

2. 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?

3. What happens when Mrs. Widdup makes an excuse to go into Mr. Coulson's room to speak with him after the ice is delivered?

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. How does O. Henry use verbal misunderstandings to characterize Mrs. Widdup when she first appears in Mr. Coulson's room?

6. Explain the significance of the diction "foxy" to describe Mrs. Widdup (333).

7. Explain the titular allusion and the allusion to "the poet" in the first sentence of the story.

8. When Mr. Coulson finally confesses his feelings to Mrs. Widdup, what drawback to himself does he acknowledge, and what advantage does he say balances this drawback out?

9. When rhetorical purposes are served by the passage where the narrator says that the scent of flowers was carried in through the window and "fought" with the scent of Mr. Coulson's gout medicine?

10. What rhetorical purposes does O. Henry accomplish with his introduction of Mr. Coulson through a list of things that he "has," like gout, money, and a daughter?

(see the answer keys)

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