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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 is the narrator's first name?

2. Whose head is described as "too small for the rest of his body"?

3. What does the title of the story refer to?

4. What do J.P. and the narrator use for an ashtray?

5. When did the narrator read the short story he mentions?

Short Essay Questions

1. Give an example of hopefulness in the story.

2. Why does Roxy say yes to a date with J.P.?

3. Why does the author keep mentioning the coal bucket?

4. Why does the proprietor recommend "The Call of the Wild" to J.P. and the narrator?

5. How is friendship presented in the story?

6. What economic class do you think the narrator is from and why?

7. How does the narrator feel about his girlfriend?

8. Give an example of hopelessness in the story.

9. Describe the narrator's landlord.

10. What does Roxy's name suggest?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Will J.P. and the narrator recover from alcoholism? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss how emotional and physical isolation are connected in the story.

Essay Topic 3

Compare how humility and arrogance are used in the story.

(see the answer keys)

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