VISTAS-PROSE 1.

THE THIRD LEVEL- Jack Finney-PYQs

Multiple Choice Questions based on an extract:
A. Sometimes I think Grand Central is growing like a tree, pushing out new corridors and staircases like
roots. There’s probably a long tunnel that nobody knows about feeling its way under the city right now, on
its way to Times Square, and maybe another to Central Park. And maybe — because for so many people
through the years Grand Central has been an exit, a way of escape — maybe that’s how the tunnel I got
into... But I never told my psychiatrist friend about that idea.
i The above extract is NOT an example of ________.
a) allegory b) analogy c) imagery d) metaphor
ii Charley decided not to tell his psychiatrist friend about his idea. Choose the option that reflects
the reaction Charley anticipated from his friend.
a) “That’s such a lovely comparison. Why don’t you become a writer, Charley?”
b) “Oh Charley. It is so sad to see your desperation to run away! So very sad.”
c) “Maybe that’s how you entered the third level. Who would have thought?!”
d) “You need help, my raving friend. You are way too invested in this crazy thought!”
iii Look at the given image that lists some of the ways in which the symbolism of a tree is
employed.
Which of the following would represent an example as used by Charley in the above extract?

a) ‘Stay grounded’ as the train station is underground.

b) ‘Connect with your roots’ as he desires to go back to his past.
c) ‘Enjoy the view’ as the station leads to all tourist sights of the city.
d) ‘Keep growing’ as the station keeps renovating and expanding.
iv The idiom ‘feeling its way’ implies ______ movement.
a) swift b) tentative c) circular d) disorganized
B. Have you ever been there? It’s a wonderful town still, with big old frame houses, huge lawns, and
tremendous trees whose branches meet overhead and roof the streets. And in 1894, summer evenings
were twice as long, and people sat out on their lawns, the men smoking cigars and talking quietly, the
women waving palm-leaf fans, with the fire-flies all around, in a peaceful world. To be back there with the
First World War still twenty years off, and World War II over forty years in the future... I wanted two tickets
for that.
i Who does ‘you’ refer to?
a) Charley’s psychiatrist, Sam Weiner b) Charley’s wife, Louisa
c) The reader d) Nobody in particular, it is a figure of speech.
ii Choose the option that best describes the society represented in the above extract.
a) content, peace-loving b) leisurely, sentimental
c) orthodox, upper class d) comfortable, ancient
iii Imagine that the city of Galesburg is hosting a series of conferences and workshops. In which of
the following conferences or workshops are you least likely to find the description of Galesburg
given in the above extract?
a) Gorgeous Galesburg: Archiving a Tourist Paradise
b) Welcome to the home you deserve: Galesburg Realtors
c) Re-imagining a Warless Future: Technology for Peace
d) The Woman Question: The world of women at home
iv “tremendous trees whose branches meet overhead and roof the streets” is NOT an example of
(i) imagery (ii) metaphor (iii) alliteration (iv) anachronism
a) Options (i) and (ii) b) Options (i) and (iii)
c) Options (ii) and (iii) d) Options (ii) and (iv)
C. The presidents of the New York Central and the New York, New Haven and Hanford railroads will wear
on a lack of timetables that there are only two. But I say there are three, because I've been on the third
level of the Grand Central Station. Yes, I've taken the obvious step: I talked to a psychiatrist friend of
mine, among others. I told him about the third level at Grand Central Station, and he said it was a waking-
dream wish fulfillment. He said I was unhappy. That made my wife kind of mad, but he explained that he
meant the modern world is full of insecurity, fear, war, worry and all the rest of it, and that I just want to
escape. Well, who doesn't? Everybody I know wants to escape, but they don't wander down into any third
level at Grand Central Station.
i. Complete the given sentence appropriately, Unlike the two levels that have a stack of timetables" to
prove their existence, the third level has _____________ .
ii. Yes, I've taken the obvious step.
What is the narrator assuming that the reader is thinking when he says the above line?
iii. Which of these is an example of 'a waking-dream wish fulfillment as described in the extract?
A. Meenal loses her book and swears that it is her enemy who stole it.
B. Milind claims that he was petting his beloved dog whom he lost a few years ago.
C. Malini tells everyone that she saw a Cheetah though she herself knows it is a lie.
D. Mrinal thinks that he saw a spaceship in the sky which later turned out to be a normal aircraft
iv. Based on the extract, what does the narrator think about the psychiatrist's opinion?
Stand-alone MCQs:
i How would you describe Charley’s vision of his grandfather’s life and times?
a) wistful escapism b) idealized sentimentality
c) nostalgic simplicity d) dreamy perfection
ii ‘The Third Level’ refers to the third level at the Grand Central Station. As a metaphor, which of
the following would NOT be an appropriate explanation of the title?
a) The convergence of reality and fantasy b) The bridge between the past and the present.
c) The oppressive monotony of modern life d) The need for an alternate plane of understanding.
iii How would you describe Charley?
a) confused, happy-go-lucky b) escapist, adventurous
c) imaginative, nostalgic d) friendly, responsible
iv Which of the following is a conclusion that can be drawn from the story?
a) Reality is indeed stranger than fiction.
b) With all its worries, modern life is not worth living.
c) The past is undoubtedly better than the present.
d) Imagination might be the only great escape.
SHORT ANSWERS:
i. What would you describe as your “waking-dream wish fulfilment”? Explain.
ii.Why do you think Charley withdrew nearly all the money he had from the bank to buy old-style currency?
iii.How would you evaluate Sam’s character? Elucidate any two qualities, and substantiate with evidence
from the text.
iv.At the beginning of the story, Sam is sceptical of Charley’s discovery of the third level. By the end of the
story, the reader is told that he found the third level and travelled back in time. How would Sam diagnose
himself?
v. How does the protagonist’s visit to the third level at Grand Central Station symbolize his desire for
escape?

LONG ANSWERS:
i. In the story ‘The Third Level’, Charley wanted to go to Galesburg, Illinois in the year 1894. If you had an
opportunity to go to another time and place, where would you like to go? Why? How would Sam analyse
your choice of alternate time and place?
ii. Imagine that you come across Louisa’s diary. What might you find in it about the third level? Compose
at least one diary entry based on any of the events from the story, ‘The Third Level’.
iii. In the chapter "The Third Level" from the book Vistas, Charley's interactions and discoveries at the
stamp and coin store provide insight into the nature of his relationship with Sam and their shared realities.
How does Charley's revelation about Sam challenge his understanding of the third level and its
implications on his perceptions of reality and fantasy?
iv. In the story 'The Third Level", Charley discovers a mysterious third level at the Grand Central Station,
which is believed to be a form of escape from modern-day anxieties. Imagine that you have been to this
third level and found it to be beautiful utopia free from all the stresses of contemporary life. Write a letter to
Charley, detailing your experiences an suggesting that he joins you there permanently.
Begin your letter this way:
Dear Charley
I hope this letter finds you well. I am writing to you today because....
v. In the story 'The Third Level", Charley describes an experience that transcends time and challenges the
boundaries of reality. Imagine you are a close friend of Charley's, and after reading his account of the third
level at Grand Central Station, you decide to write a letter to him, expressing your views about his
experience and offering some advice or perspective.