“ A PAIR OF SILK STOCKINGS”Pop Quiz English I

“The question of ___________ was one that occupied her greatly.  For a day or two she walked about apparently in a dreamy state, but really absorbed in speculation and calculation.  She did not wish to act hastily, to do anything she might afterward regret.”

1. Choose the correct topic that Mrs. Sommers thinks about in the passage above.

a. Healthb. Marriagec. Investment

2. Mrs. Sommers goes many places. Where does Mrs. Sommers not go?

a. Department store, shoe departmentb. Department store, glove departmentc. Department store, ladies’ waiting-roomd. A restaurante. The beauty parlorf. The theatre

3. The short story ends with Mrs. Sommers going for a ride in a(n) . . .

a. Horse-drawn carriageb. Elevatorc. Taxid. Cable-car

Irony, the discrepancy between appearances and reality, is present throughout "A Pair of Silk Stockings" by Kate Chopin.  Initially when Mrs. Sommers receives the windfall of some money, she plans the "judicious (careful) use of the money." 

1. Mrs. Sommers buys all of the following items for herself except . . .

a. A pair of silk stockingsb. New shoesc. Two magazinesd. Lunche. A hair treatment at the beauty parlor

2. How much money does Mrs. Summers receive in the beginning of the story?

a. $5.50b. $10.00c. $15.00d. $21.14

“The neighbors sometimes talked of certain ‘better days’ that little Mrs. Sommers had known before she had ever thought of being Mrs. Sommers…She had not time--no second of time to devote to the past. The needs of the present absorbed her every faculty. ”

“Mrs. Sommers bought two high-priced magazines such as she had

been accustomed to read in the days when she had been accustomed to other pleasant things.”

3. Based on the passages above and clues from the remainder of the short story, the reader may infer that Mrs. Sommers having trouble with . . .

a. Her husband’s attitude toward herb. Her meddling in-lawsc. Her financial situationd. Her neighbors constant interference in her life