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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. Which is the best description of the "Diamonds" narrator's attitude toward teaching his gym classes?

2. What is the "Diamonds" narrator intending to do when he leaves the school on Monday morning?

3. What sport did the "Diamonds" narrator excel in as a teenager?

4. What is the name of the eldest member of the "Diamonds" narrator's AA group?

5. What does Eli notice makes up the pattern on Doran's tie?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did Arm and Dympna meet?

2. Why does the narrator of "Diamonds" need to rely on his former school principal once he is in Glanbeigh?

3. What is Rebecca's opinion of Arm after their conversation at Quillinan's?

4. What is the narrator's current job, and why, in "Diamonds"?

5. What does Arm think, in retrospect, about the events at the uncles' farm?

6. What can be inferred about how Maryanne died, and what evidence is there to support this inference?

7. How do Eli, Doran, and Maryanne know one another?

8. What motives for helping him does the narrator of "Diamonds" ascribe to his former principal?

9. Who are the two people that Arm calls when he reaches Ballintober, and why does he call them?

10. What made Eli and Maryanne's marriage a disaster?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay that makes and defends a claim about the significance of Dukic's character in "Kindly Forget My Existence." Think carefully about where he is, what he does, what he says, and how he looks as you consider what he might represent or how his character functions relative to the story's main characters. Use textual evidence to support your ideas.

Essay Topic 2

What is the rhetorical function of the descriptive language used on pages 32-35 of "Bait"? Make and defend a claim about the significance of the diction and imagery used in this section; be sure to take into account what has already happened in the story, the action that occurs on pages 32-35, and the story's characterization of Teddy.

Essay Topic 3

In interviews, Colin Barrett has said that it is important to him to portray his small-town characters as fully realized, complex human beings just as characters from more cosmopolitan backgrounds are generally portrayed. Has he succeeded? Write an essay that evaluates the anthology's depiction of small-town characters against this standard. Use evidence from at least four of the stories to support your claims.

(see the answer keys)

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