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The Looking-Glass – 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 Alienist

    Novella by Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis. A brilliant physician relocates to his hometown in Brazil and convinces the council to build the region’s first madhouse. Rebellion stirs when, having apprehended all the truly insane, the overzealous doctor begins to lock up anyone displaying eccentricity or unusual talents.
  • The Weeping Fig

    Short Story by Judith Wight. An Australian man comes into possession of his great-grandfather’s diary. In search of his roots, he visits the cattle station on which his ancestors had settled. He finds what he came for in a weeping fig tree planted by his great-grandmother
  • A&P

    Short Story by John Updike. A young supermarket employee resigns when his manager humiliates three girls he thinks aren't dressed appropriately and rudely asks them to leave the store. Is the boy as righteous as he makes out, or could there be another reason for his “heroism”?
  • The Wave

    Quick Read by Liam O’Flaherty. An allegory of Ireland’s struggle for independence. A cliff (Britain) stands firm, having successfully weathered many storms over its long history. Waves (the Irish people) make little impression individually, but combine at high tide to form “the wave”, which begins to break down the cliff.
  • The Fifty-first Dragon

    Grade 7-8 Story by Heywood Broun. The headmaster of “Knight School” decides that the best way to reform a cowardly student is to train him as a dragon slayer. It’s a bad year for dragons and when the lad complains, the headmaster provides him with a magic invisibility spell.
  • Armistice

    Short Story by Bernard Malamud. A Jewish grocer and German small-goods provider have increasingly aggressive arguments over unfolding events in Eastern Europe following the French surrender in World War Two. However, neither party feels strongly enough to terminate their business relationship for fear of losing money.
  • The Feathered Ogre

    Italian Folktale. A dying king is told that his only hope for a cure is a magical feather from a feared ogre known to kill any human it sees. When no one else volunteers to face the creature, one of his most loyal and courageous attendants steps forward.
  • Thus Were Their Faces

    Short Story by Silvina Ocampo. Teachers at a boarding school are puzzled when students begin to act “as if they want to become equal” and increasingly lose their individuality. Seemingly directed by a single voice, they strive to look and act the same, and develop a strange fascination with wings.
  • The Whimper of Whipped Dogs

    Short Story by Harlan Ellison. A new tenant is one of twenty-six people who witness a brutal murder in the courtyard of a New York apartment building. She later learns that it was a form of black mass, and joins the demonic cult as a means of survival.
  • They’re Made Out Of Meat

    Quick Read by Terry Bisson. Two space explorers are discussing whether to make contact with a newly discovered intelligent life form that has been broadcasting radio signals to the stars. They are uneasy about it because the life form seems to be composed entirely of meat.
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