PLEASE DON’T WRITE ON THE QUIZ
Short Story Vocabulary and Modes of Writing Quiz
(“The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” “The Scarlet Ibis,”
“The Golden Kite, the Silver Wind,” and “Checkouts”)
“The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”
1. In Thurber’s story, who is likely to be most insolent to Walter Mitty?
a.
b.
c.
d.
Walter Mitty himself
The characters in his daydreams
Mrs. Mitty
The friends he plays golf with
2. In which sentence is the word distraught used correctly?
a. I am too distraught to concentrate.
b. His health is distraught.
c. She won an award for being distraught.
d. She is only distraught when she sleeps.
3. The narrator describes Walter Mitty as inscrutable in Mitty’s last daydream because
Mitty is
a. an insincere man.
b. a man who is clueless.
c. an unsung hero.
d. a baffling and mysterious man.
“The Scarlet Ibis”
4. If an event is imminent, how might you describe it?
a.
b.
c.
d.
As irreversible
As likely to happen soon
As possible but not probable
As impossible
5. Which description might apply to an object that was positioned precariously?
a. Teetering
b. Centered
c. Decorated
d. Neatly
6. If you were convinced of your own infallibility, which of these feelings might you have?
a. Hesitation
b. Puzzlement
c. Regret
d. Confidence
“The Golden Kite, The Silver Wind”
7. How do you think you would feel if your best friend suddenly decided to spurn you?
a. Thankful
b. Guilty
c. Shocked
d. Indifferent
8. Which phrase most nearly means ravenous?
a. Very hungry
b. Extremely thirsty
c. Thoroughly bored
d. Hysterically funny
9. Which of the following is associated with vile?
a. Mathematical proof
b. Accurate prediction
c. Outrageous crime
d. Historical account
“Checkouts”
10. When she is in the supermarket, the girl in “Checkouts” is lost in a reverie. How would
you describe the way she looks?
a.
b.
c.
d.
neat
confused
angry
dreamy
11. In “Checkouts,” the girl is attracted by the bag boy's dishevelment. Which of the
following is an antonym (a word that means the opposite) of dishevelment?
a.
b.
c.
d.
messiness
tidiness
gracefulness
clumsiness
12. If your actions are perverse, you are
a.
b.
c.
d.
following directions implicitly.
defying what is deemed right or reasonable.
being judgmental.
demonstrating selfishness.