The Boogeyman – 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

The Ingredients
Short Story by Jason Reynolds. Four boys on the way to hang out at one of their homes try to outdo one another with descriptions of the exotic sandwiches they would like to eat when they get there. What they are served is very different to what they imagined.
Charles
Short Story by Shirley Jackson. Young Laurie has just started kindergarten. Every day he comes home with stories about Charles, a fellow student who is always getting in trouble for doing terrible things in class. At their first teacher interview, Laurie’s parents learn that there is no Charles.
The Storm / At the ‘Cadian Ball
Short Stories by Kate Chopin. As a wild storm rages outside, a farmer’s wife and wealthy plantation-owner who had stopped for shelter engage in wild, stormy sex inside. Although both are married, neither feels guilty about the tryst. Afterwards, the woman continues family life as normal, though seemingly more contented.

Hamadi
Young Adult Story by Naomi Shihab Nye. A bookish fourteen-year-old Palestinian-American girl develops a strong connection with Saleh Hamadi, an ageing Lebanese immigrant. One evening, she overhears some life advice she will remember for years as Hamadi comforts a friend who is in tears over being snubbed by a boy.
House Taken Over
Short Story by Julio Cortázar. A middle-aged brother and sister, having never married, live quiet but contented lives in their aging family mansion. One night, their solitude is interrupted by strange noises coming from a disused wing of the house. The title foreshadows the rest of the story.
Federigo’s Falcon
Italian folktale. A young noble squanders most of his wealth trying to impress a lady. It doesn’t work, and she marries another. All he has left is a small farm and prized hunting falcon. When the woman’s husband dies, he sacrifices the bird in yet another effort to impress.
The Last Unicorns
Quick Read by Edward Hoch. A man buys a pair of African unicorns. He transports them to the Middle East, hoping to become rich by breeding them and selling the young. A stranger arrives and offers to buy them. He refuses, little knowing that this action will make unicorns extinct.

The Looking-Glass
Short Story by Anton Chekhov. A young woman dreams about getting married and settling down happily with the perfect man. One night, she has a vision of the reality of living and raising a family in rural Russia and asks herself: “Why is it, what is it for?”
Cranes
Short Story by Hwang Sun-won. Two childhood friends are on opposite sides in the Korean War. One, a village commander, is captured and the other assigned to take him for interrogation and probable execution. The captor suggests they go off on a crane hunt, as they did once as boys.
The Happiest I’ve Been
Short Story by John Updike. Following a late night party, a second-year university student attributes his overwhelming happiness to driving a powerful car through the stunning Pennsylvania countryside, blessed irresponsibility, a waiting girl who would marry him, and twice being trusted enough for someone to fall asleep beside him.