Short Stories Quiz
Questions: 16 · 10 minutes
1. In Poe’s “The Masque of the Red Death,” what does the masked figure’s arrival at Prospero’s secluded celebration demonstrate?
The guests have staged a rebellion against Prospero
Wealth and isolation cannot provide complete escape from mortality
Prospero has invited an actor to frighten his guests
The celebration is actually a public funeral ceremony
2. When Louise Mallard is briefly alone in Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour,” what realization comes over her?
She caused the reported accident
Her husband left behind a hidden fortune
Her sister intends to take control of the household
She may now possess a freedom she had not felt in marriage
3. Where does most of Richard Connell’s “The Most Dangerous Game” take place?
On an isolated African savanna
At a hunting lodge in the Rocky Mountains
On a Caribbean island controlled by General Zaroff
In a remote Siberian forest
4. A reader calls the ending of O. Henry’s “The Gift of the Magi” ironic. Which pair of actions best supports that interpretation?
Della buys a watch, while Jim buys a mirror
Della pawns the combs, while Jim returns the chain
Della sells her hair for a watch chain, while Jim sells his watch for hair combs
Della cuts Jim’s hair, while Jim repairs Della’s watch
5. In Kurt Vonnegut’s “Harrison Bergeron,” what is the government’s main purpose in assigning handicaps to citizens?
To prepare everyone for military service
To suppress individual advantages in the name of enforced equality
To conceal citizens from advanced surveillance systems
To reward people who refuse to compete with others
6. Which statement best captures the caution behind the three wishes in W. W. Jacobs’s “The Monkey’s Paw”?
Attempts to control fate can bring unforeseen and painful consequences
Wishes succeed only when they are phrased as questions
Magical objects lose their power when given away
Good intentions guarantee that supernatural bargains end well
7. In Saki’s “The Open Window,” how does Vera deceive the visiting Mr. Nuttel?
She invents a tragedy that makes returning hunters appear to be ghosts
She hides his belongings and blames the servants
She persuades him that his sister has sent him to the wrong address
She claims to be the owner of the house
8. Who wrote “The Lottery,” the story about a community carrying out a deadly annual ritual?
Flannery O’Connor
Shirley Jackson
Kate Chopin
Katherine Mansfield
9. A reader initially accepts Peyton Farquhar’s dramatic escape in “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.” What later forces the reader to reinterpret that escape?
The ending reveals that the escape unfolded in his mind just before his death
The soldiers reveal that they deliberately released him
His wife explains that she arranged a rescue
The narrator admits that Farquhar was never captured
10. At the end of Guy de Maupassant’s “The Necklace,” what discovery makes Mathilde’s years of sacrifice especially ironic?
The original necklace was an inexpensive imitation
Her husband had secretly recovered the original necklace
Madame Forestier had stolen the necklace herself
The replacement necklace was also lost
11. In “The Yellow Wallpaper,” which situation most directly contributes to the narrator’s growing fixation on the wallpaper?
She is required to work long hours as a wallpaper designer
She becomes lost while exploring an abandoned hospital
She is confined and discouraged from writing or making her own choices
She investigates reports that the house is haunted
12. Why does Frank R. Stockton’s “The Lady, or the Tiger?” leave readers without a confirmed ending?
The final page is presented as a missing document
The accused man refuses to open either door
The king cancels the trial before a choice is made
The story ends without revealing which door the princess indicated
13. In Jack London’s “To Build a Fire,” what most clearly explains the different fates of the traveler and the dog?
The dog finds an occupied cabin that the traveler overlooks
The dog’s instinct guides it toward survival, while the traveler’s judgment fails in the extreme cold
The traveler gives the dog his remaining food before collapsing
The dog is rescued by the same companion who abandoned the traveler
14. What discovery gives the ending of Liam O’Flaherty’s “The Sniper” its central shock?
His rifle had never contained live ammunition
The armored car belonged to his own unit
The old woman was secretly his commander
The enemy sniper he killed was his brother
15. In Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart,” what sound does the narrator believe he hears after the police arrive?
The dead man knocking from inside a wall
A clock ticking beneath the floor
Police officers whispering about the crime
The dead man’s beating heart
16. In Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado,” what does Montresor use to lure Fortunato deeper into the catacombs?
An invitation to join a secret society
A promise to reveal a hidden family treasure
The chance to judge a supposedly rare wine
A challenge to identify a forged painting