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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 reason does Annabel give to support her agreement with Midge that a pearl necklace is a good "purchase"?

2. What does the young man offer to go out and get for the girl in the the story "The Sexes"?

3. How long has the Old Gentleman lived with the Bains?

4. What is Walter Williams' profession?

5. What imaginary "purchase" puts a strain on the relationship between Annabel and Midge?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the woman in "Arrangement in Black and White" characterize her husband?

2. What is the irony in the end of the short story "The Waltz"?

3. In "Arrangement in Black and White," what do the woman's behavior and comments at the dinner party reveal about her?

4. Why does the woman in "The Waltz" agree to dance with the young man even though she does not want to?

5. Compare and contrast the poems "The Trifler" and "Braggart."

6. What do the poems "Interview" and "Neither Bloody Nor Bowed" have in common?

7. What is ironic about Mrs. Martindale's volunteer efforts in the short story, "Song of the Shirt, 1941"?

8. How might Mrs. Martindale solve Mrs. Wyman's problem and her own at the same time?

9. Why is Mimi upset after her husband's phone call in the beginning of "The Lovely Leave"?

10. Describe the role of Mrs. Whittaker in the story "The Wonderful Old Gentleman."

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Examine Dorothy Parker's "Self Portrait" and her letters. What do these pieces reveal about her as a person? How do these revelations compare to the themes and characters that she writes about? Be sure to include specific examples and quotations to support these observations.

Essay Topic 2

Some of Dorothy Parker's short stories follow a traditional story format of narrative and dialogue, while others rely simply on one-sided dialogue. Examine these two different approaches to storytelling and evaluate the effectiveness of each. What does Parker achieve by only giving one side of the conversation in some stories? Why might some stories require more complete description? How might the stories be different if she chose a different approach? Be sure to provide specific examples and quotations when appropriate.

Essay Topic 3

Examine Dorothy Parker's use of death imagery in both her short stories and her poetry. What purposes does this imagery serve? What themes do these images support? Be sure to use specific evidence and quotations to prove your observations.

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