Man From the South – 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

Good Advice is Rarer than Rubies
Short Story by Salman Rushdie. When an attractive woman steps off a bus outside a British Consulate for a visa interview, “advice expert” Muhammad sees her as any easy mark. He is confused when she rejects his help and returns from the interview happy, having failed to get her visa.
How Suan Became Rich
Philippine Folktale. A poor man is called before his king by people unfairly trying to recover losses from him. The wise king sees through their greed and finds creative ways for the man to "make good" their claims. In doing this, he becomes the richest person in his village.
Hills Like White Elephants
Quick Read by Ernest Hemingway. A couple waiting for a train have an important decision to make that will determine the direction of their lives. Unfortunately, they have reached a point in their relationship where they find it hard to open up and talk about their feelings.

Wakefield
Short Story by Nathaniel Hawthorne. A narrator provides a possible backstory for a newspaper account of a man who ‘disappeared’ after telling his wife he was going on a week’s holiday, stalked her for twenty years, and then returned home as if nothing had happened.
Mary Postgate
Short Story by Rudyard Kipling. A prim, proper, middle-aged spinster refuses to get help and watches the slow, painful death of a seriously injured pilot. Her almost orgasmic physical response and subsequent behavior - a luxurious hot bath before tea - indicate she found it an uplifting experience.
The Fiddler
Short Story by Herman Melville. A struggling writer is in a desperate mood after negative reviews of his latest work. His life changes when he learns the secret of a “commonplace” man who appears to have no special talents but is able to live life to the fullest.
Circular Ruins
Short Story by Jorge Borges. A mystic arrives at the overgrown, burn-out ruins of an ancient riverside temple. Living as an ascetic, his purpose is to “dream” a man into existence, initiate him into the riddles of the universe, and send him to inhabit another temple.

Pret in the House / Ghost Trouble
Grade 3-4 Story by Ruskin Bond. A pret (ghost) moves into a family’s house. Fortunately, it is of the mischievous rather than dangerous or hungry variety. When its playful pranks become too annoying, the family decides to move away. However, this does not prove as easy as they had hoped.
Hands
Short Story by Sherwood Anderson. A young teacher is so traumatized by false accusations of child molestation that he flees, changes his identity, and shuts himself off from the world. He is now a frightened loner, with only one friend in the world and a nervous tic in his hands.
The Last Leaf
Short Story by O. Henry. Two young women trying to make a living as artists share an apartment. One of them becomes very sick, and believes she will die when the last leaf falls from an ivy plant on the wall opposite her window. An unselfish act saves her life.