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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who are the Skiddys?

2. What does Hyacinth instruct Mr. Gates not to do in a letter?

3. What is Mr. Walter's opinion of Ruth as a writer?

4. Who is Mr. Ellet having dinner with in Chapter LXI?

5. What is Ruth's pen name?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who is John Walter and what does he offer Ruth in Chapter LXVIII?

2. Why does the boarding house housemaid quit her job in Chapter XLVII?

3. How does Mr. Walter advise Ruth in Chapter LXXI?

4. What two offers does Ruth receive in Chapter LXXII?

5. Who does Chapter LXXIV focus on?

6. What does Mrs. Millet allow Ruth to do every week at her home?

7. What success does Ruth find in Chapter LXIV? Who is unhappy with her success?

8. In Chapter LIII when Mrs. Skiddy finds her husband has not returned home from work, where does she find him?

9. What idea does Ruth come up with to earn a living in Chapter LVI? Who does she turn to for help?

10. What does Ruth worry about despite having found a newspaper to publish her work in Chapter LXII?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the motif of family in the novel "Ruth Hall". Is family important to Ruth? How does her family treat her? Why doesn't Ruth's family help her in her time of need? Is she surprised by this?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the motif of death in the novel "Ruth Hall". Who dies in the novel? How do these deaths affect the tone of the novel? How does Ruth react to these deaths? How do the other characters react to these deaths? How do these deaths impact Ruth's life?

Essay Topic 3

After struggling without income for some time, Ruth decides to become a writer. Describe Ruth's writing career from when she first decides to become a writer until the end of the novel. How does Ruth's choice to become a writer change her life forever? Why does she use a pen name? What types of things does she write about?

(see the answer keys)

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