Worksheets"A Retrieved Reformation" by O. Henry Comprehension Check
Total questions: 16
Worksheet time: 50mins
Jimmy Valentine is released from prison because
of his good behavior.
he was innocent.
one of his friends bribed the governor.
he had served his entire four-year sentence.
What does Jimmy Valentine do in prison that helps him when he decides to change his criminal ways?
He makes friends with the warden.
He gets a new suit of clothes.
He gets a train ticket and a five-dollar bill.
He works in the prison shoe shop.
How do the prison warden’s words to Jimmy provide a clue to the surprise ending?
He says Jimmy is an “innocent” victim.
He says Jimmy is “not a bad fellow at heart.”
He praises Jimmy for having friends in “high-toned society.”
He says the “mean old jury had it in” for Jimmy.
Which of the following is NOT a reason for Ben Price’s interest in Jimmy Valentine?
Ben Price is a burglar who wants Jimmy’s tools.
Ben Price is an eminent detective who takes high-level cases.
Ben Price is a detective who studied Jimmy’s habits.
Ben Price believes Jimmy should not have been released from prison.
Which of Jimmy’s actions gives a clue to his plans immediately after he is released from prison?
He goes to the restaurant and has a chicken dinner.
He returns to his room and picks up his safe cracking tools.
He offers to give his friend his suitcase of tools.
He drinks a seltzer-and-milk with Mike Dolan.
What happens in Arkansas that makes Jimmy “become another man”?
Ben Price catches up to Jimmy.
Jimmy hides from the authorities for a year.
Jimmy falls in love.
Jimmy moves into a hotel room.
How might Annabel Adams’s father feel about “Ralph” if he knew the young man was really Jimmy Valentine?
Mr. Adams would admire Jimmy for his clean work.
Mr. Adams would respect Jimmy for knowing people in high society.
Mr. Adams would despise Jimmy for being a safe cracker.
Mr. Adams would still approve of Jimmy as a son-in-law.
Why is Ralph Spencer “the phoenix that arose from Jimmy Valentine’s ashes”? This is an allusion!
Jimmy has given up his life of crime and gave himself a new name.
Jimmy pretended to be dead in order to escape Ben Price.
Ralph Spencer died when Annabel learned he had been a burglar.
Jimmy changed his name in each town he visited.
Which situation is NOT a sign of Jimmy’s changed life?
Jimmy’s shoe store is flourishing.
Jimmy is engaged to Annabel Adams.
Jimmy has kept his burglary tools.
Jimmy has won the respect of the community in Elmore.
Which clues to the surprise ending appear in Jimmy’s letter to his old pal? Pick two!
Jimmy admits to being worried that he might be arrested for a past crime.
Jimmy says he is going to marry Annabel in two weeks.
Jimmy promises to give his tool kit to his old pal.
Jimmy says that he plans to use his tool kit one more time.
In what order do these events lead up to the surprise ending?
I. The girl locks her sister inside the bank safe.
II. Jimmy plans to take his tools to his old pal in Little Rock.
III. Ben Price arrives in the town of Elmore.
IV. Jimmy saves the little girl by cracking the safe.
I, II, III, IV
III, I, II, IV
II, III, IV, I
II, III, I, IV
Which of the following details from the story makes the surprise ending of the story possible?
Jimmy is engaged to a girl whose father owns the town bank.
Jimmy opens a shoe business.
While cracking safes, Jimmy earned over $7000.
Jimmy planned to take a horse and buggy to the train station.
Why does Jimmy ask Annabel for the rose she’s wearing before he cracks the safe open?
He hopes the rose will bring him good luck as he tries to save the little girl.
He plans to use the rose as one of the tools to help get the safe open.
He knows he will have to leave town, and he wants the rose to remember her by.
He always wore a rose when he was cracking safes as a burglar.
Based on Jimmy’s actions at the end of the story, the reader can conclude that
he has always liked children.
he wants to go back to jail.
he cannot resist showing off in front of Annabel.
he has truly changed into a good man.
Why doesn’t Ben Price arrest Jimmy Valentine?
He admires Jimmy’s abilities as a safe cracker.
He knows Jimmy exposed his past in order to save the child.
He doesn’t recognize him and thinks he is a man named Ralph Spencer.
He believes Jimmy has served enough time of prison for his crimes.
This story contains situational irony because
the story is told by a third person omniscient narrator so the reader already knows that Jimmy will need to crack the safe at the Elmore bank.
the reader is made to believe that Jimmy has changed into a good man after meeting Annabel. However, the reader learns at the end that Jimmy hasn’t really changed at all.
he reader believes that Jimmy has given up safe cracking for good and will have a happy life with Annabel. However, Jimmy ends up cracking the safe and exposing his past to his future wife and family.
he story ends without the reader learning what actually happens between Jimmy and Annabel. This leads the reader to question whether Jimmy made the right decision by exposing himself to her and her family.
