Necklace Skills Test Review

1. From which point of view is the story told?

• a. first person
• b. third person limited
• c. third person objective
• d. third person omniscient

2. Which text excerpt below best demonstrates the point of view you selected above?

• a. Mathilde suffered ceaselessly, feeling herself born to enjoy all delicacies and all luxuries.
• b. He grew a little pale, because he was laying aside just that amount to buy a gun and treat himself to a little shooting next summer on the plain of Nanterre, with several friends who went to shoot larks there of a Sunday.
• c. "It annoys me not to have a single piece of jewelry, not a single ornament, nothing to put on. I shall look poverty-stricken. I would almost rather not go at all.”
• d. The next day they took the box that had contained it and went to the jeweler whose name was found within. He consulted his books.

3. Which excerpt below includes irony?

• a. Instead of being delighted, as her husband had hoped, she threw the invitation on the table crossly, muttering: "What do you wish me to do with that?"
• b. He threw over her shoulders the wraps he had brought, the modest wraps of common life, the poverty of which contrasted with the elegance of the ball dress.
• c. At last they found on the quay one of those ancient night cabs which, as though they were ashamed to show their shabbiness during the day, are never seen round Paris until after dark.
• d. He did borrow, asking a thousand francs of one, five hundred of another, five louis here, three louis there.

4. Which type of irony is used in the excerpt you selected above?

• a. situational irony
• b. verbal irony
• c. dramatic irony

5. In the story, what does the necklace symbolize?

• a. power
• b. beauty
• c. deception
• d. all of these

6. Which excerpt below includes foreshadowing that hints at the ultimate outcome of the story?

• a. She thought of silent antechambers hung with Oriental tapestry, illumined by tall bronze candelabra, and of two great footmen in knee breeches who sleep in the big armchairs, made drowsy by the oppressive heat of the stove.
• b. She had a friend, a former schoolmate at the convent, who was rich, and whom she did not like to go to see any more because she felt so sad when she came home.
• c. She dressed plainly because she could not dress well, but she was unhappy as if she had really fallen from a higher station
• d. She saw first some bracelets, then a pearl necklace, then a Venetian gold cross set with precious stones, of admirable workmanship.

7. Which character traits below most accurately describe M. Loisel, Mathilde’s husband?

• a. selfish and prideful
• b. loyal and dutiful
• c. obnoxious and presumptuous
• d. boring and undesirable

8. Which evidence from the story most strongly supports your answer to the previous question?

• a. Loisel returned at night with a hollow, pale face. He had discovered nothing.
• b. "Why, the gown you go to the theatre in. It looks very well to me.” He stopped, distracted, seeing that his wife was weeping. Two great tears ran slowly from the corners of her eyes toward the corners of her mouth.
• c. He compromised all the rest of his life, risked signing a note without even knowing whether he could meet it;
• d. "You might wear natural flowers," said her husband. "They're very stylish at this time of year.”

9. Which excerpt below is a theme of “The Necklace”?

• a. Greedy people are always destined to be poor.
• b. Humble people always finish last.
• c. Always try your best, no matter what.
• d. Too much pride can get in the way of a happy life.

10. How does the author develop the theme that you selected in the previous question?

• a. by showing the harm done to a couple who had too much pride
• b. by showing what happens to a couple who behave greedily
• c. by showing that hard work and effort always pay off in the end
• d. by showing how humility doesn’t always make you the winner, but it can make you happy