46 pages • 1 hour read
James ThurberThe Catbird Seat
Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1942A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Quiz
Reading Check, Multiple Choice & Short Answer Quizzes
Reading Check questions are designed for in-class review on key plot points or for quick verbal or written assessments. Multiple Choice and Short Answer Quizzes create ideal summative assessments, and collectively function to convey a sense of the work’s tone and themes.
Reading Check
1. When Mr. Martin decides to “rub out” Mrs. Barrows, what does he mean by this phrase?
2. What two habits is Mr. Martin known for abstaining from?
3. What does Mr. Martin customarily drink in the evening?
4. What is the name of Mr. Martin’s boss?
Multiple Choice
1. What does Mr. Martin buy at the beginning of the story?
A) a pack of cigarettes
B) a stick of gum
C) a gallon of milk
D) a knife
2. What is Mr. Martin’s occupation?
A) head of the filing department
B) head of the accounting department
C) head of the legal department
D) head of the marketing department
3. What most bothers Mr. Martin about Mrs. Ulgine Barrows?
A) her lazy attitude
B) her physical appearance
C) her disrespectfulness towards their boss
D) her brash personality
4. To what does Mr. Martin compare himself as he mentally reviews Mrs. Barrows’s actions against him?
A) a baseball announcer
B) a lawyer
C) a banker
D) a heroin addict
5. When Mr. Martin walks to Mrs. Barrows’s house, what does he intend to do?
A) trick her
B) kill her
C) have a drink with her
D) threaten her
6. As Mr. Martin leaves Mrs. Barrows’s house, what does he say before he sticks out his tongue?
A) “I’m tearing up the pea patch.”
B) “I’m lifting the oxcart out of the ditch.”
C) “I’m sitting in the catbird seat.”
D) “I’m scraping around the bottom of the pickle barrel.”
Short-Answer Response
Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. According to Mr. Martin, how did Mrs. Barrows get her job at F&S?
2. How does Mr. Martin spend his time outside of work?
3. Describe how Mr. Martin plans to carry out the murder of Mrs. Barrows, and how his plan changes once he arrives at her house.
4. When Mrs. Barrows accuses Mr. Martin of threatening to kill their boss, how does Mr. Fitweiler respond?
Quizzes – Answer Key
Reading Check
1. He plans to kill her.
2. smoking and drinking
3. milk
4. Mr. Fitweiler
Multiple Choice
1. A
2. A
3. D
4. B
5. B
6. C
Short-Answer Response
1. She worked her “monstrous magic” on Mr. Fitweiler at a party, where alcohol was no doubt involved. Mr. Martin receives the story of the party secondhand from Miss Paird.
2. Outside of work, Mr. Martin eats dinner, reads, takes walks, and drinks milk. Other than these daily customs, Mr. Martin has no other noted hobbies or commitments, nor does he have a family or much of a social life.
3. Mr. Martin plans to find a murder weapon once inside Mrs. Barrows’s house, to smoke a cigarette once she is dead, and to leave the cigarette in the ashtray as a “red herring.” However, when he cannot find a suitable murder weapon quickly, he decides instead to act out of character and threaten to kill Mr. Fitweiler.
4. He believes she has a psychological illness and has her escorted from the office building.
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By James Thurber
