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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. According to the poem "Reuben's Children" what sort of people are cursed?

2. What secret does the narrator in "Second Love" keep from her lover?

3. What does the narrator of "Cherry White" think of whenever she sees a cherry bough or a flowering tree?

4. Among the "Tombstones in the Starlight," whom does "The Very Rich Man" now entertain?

5. What does the narrator wish for the girl in the poem "Story"?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the resolution of "Big Blonde" illustrate that Hazel's troubles are recurrent cycle?

2. What story is told through the poem "There Was One"?

3. What is the complaint that is raised in the poem "Penelope"?

4. How does Hazel Morse lose her own identity in her efforts to please others in the short story "Big Blonde"?

5. What is the lesson behind the poem "Parable for a Certain Virgin"?

6. Compare the poems "Star Light, Star Bright--" and "Purposely Ungrammatical Love Song." How are they similar?

7. Explain the allusions in the poem "Guinevere At Her Fireside."

8. In the poem "The Last Question," what is the purpose of the italicized lines?

9. Compare the poems "Surprise," "On Being A Woman," and "Second Love." What do they have in common?

10. Compare the poems "Bric-A-Brac," "Fulfillment," and "Theory." What do these poems have in common?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Dorothy Parker often portrays the relationship between men and women as adversarial. Support this observation by providing and analyzing evidence from both her short stories and her poetry. Be sure to use specific examples and quotations when appropriate.

Essay Topic 2

Describe Dorothy Parker's writing style in her essays. How does this style compare to her short stories and poetry? How do her tone and word choice compare? What types of imagery does she use? How does her writing style influence the effectiveness of her essays? Be sure to include specific examples and quotations to support your observations.

Essay Topic 3

In many of Dorothy Parker's stories, relationships become strained because the characters do not speak honestly to one another. Instead, one character will say whatever he/she thinks the other wants to hear, or characters will skirt around a subject all together. Examine how this kind of dishonesty affects relationships in Parker's short stories. Be sure to include specific examples and quotations to support your observations.

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