Idyll – Quiz | shortsonline

Idyll – General Understanding Quiz

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Approximate Reading Times

Quick Read: under 5 minutes
Short Story: 5 to 30 minutes
Novelette: 30 to 90 minutes
Novella: 1.5 to 2.5 hours

Other stories you may like:

The Swimmer
Short Story by John Cheever. An arrogant, pretentious narcissist attempts to become recognized as a legendary adventurer by “swimming” home from a party through a summer storm. His eight mile journey through neighborhood pools symbolizes risk-taking that may have led to the loss of his wealth, respect, family and health.
Spring in Fialta
Novelette by Vladimir Nabokov. A businessman reminiscences about what was and might have been. In his European travels, he repeatedly comes across and enjoys brief dalliances with the same enigmatic woman. Both are married. He has strong romantic feelings for her, but is unsure if these are reciprocated.
Waters of Gold
Chinese Folktale. The fortunes of a kind-hearted woman living in poverty change for the better when she helps a filthy, foul-smelling beggar who everyone else in her village ignores. Later, her greedy neighbour experiences a different result when, hoping for a similar reward, she helps the same man.
Vision out of the Corner of One Eye
Quick Read by Luisa Valenzuela. A woman traveling on a crowded bus feels herself being groped. When she tries to move away, more people get on the bus and the groping develops into “fondling” and “jiggling”. Rather than make a scene, she gives the pervert some of his own medicine.
The Barber’s Trade Union
Short Story by Mulk Raj Anand. When a young Indian barber tries to improve his appearance by dressing more professionally, he is verbally abused and humiliated by village elders for acting above his caste. Rather giving in, he changes the way he works and turns the tables on his detractors.

The Star-Child
Short Story by Oscar Wilde. A baby who seemingly fell from the sky grows into a narcissistic, cruel young man until karma and loss teach him the error of his ways. Later, he becomes lord of a great city and rules with justice and mercy. But alas, not for long!
The Medicine Bag
Grade 7-8 Story by Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve. A Native American boy is proud of his ethnic identity as portrayed by “stately TV Indians”, but embarrassed to invite friends home when his ailing great-grandfather comes to visit, and mortified at the prospect of having to wear a family heirloom.
The Goose Father
Short Story by Krys Lee. Sexual tension builds between a South Korean “goose father” and a tenant he takes in after six months’ living alone. The enigmatic tenant, a young man half the landlord’s age, arrives with a goose he believes to be his reincarnated mother.
Exchanging Glances
Short story by Christa Wolf. A middle-aged German woman recalls her time as a displaced teenager fleeing the Russians with her family in the final days of World War II. She recounts the horror of the refugee caravan, and some confronting experiences on reaching the “safety” of American lines.
The Adventure of the Speckled Band
Novelette by Arthur Conan Doyle. Sherlock Holmes’s client fears for her life. Her violent stepfather, who manages her dead mother’s inheritance, will become destitute should she or her sister marry. Shortly after announcing her engagement, the sister died in one of the most creative murder plots Holmes has ever seen.