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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. After Henry leaves out milk and causes it to explode, it comes to light that he was never really what?

2. Mattie compares her love for Royal with Grace Brown’s love for whom in Chapter 26?

3. Mattie sends money to her father to pay for what in the end of the novel?

4. What kind of dog is it that Mattie is paid to feed and walk at the Glenmore?

5. What is Henry’s original position at the Glenmore Hotel?

Short Essay Questions

1. What discovery does Mattie make while reading the works of Emily Dickinson in Chapter 23?

2. What information does Miss Wilcox confess to Mattie in Chapter 17?

3. What does Mattie discover at the home of Emmie Hubbard in Chapter 18?

4. How does Mattie’s relationship with Royal Loomis progress in Chapter 18? How does this relate to Grace Brown’s story?

5. What does Mattie discover through Grace Brown’s letters in Chapter 19? What are her thoughts on this discovery?

6. How are the themes of duty and responsibility illustrated in Chapters 23-26?

7. What work has Mattie begun doing for Miss Wilcox in Chapter 17? What does she discover when she arrives?

8. Where is Miss Wilcox planning to depart for in Chapter 27? How does Mattie visit her teacher?

9. What are Mattie’s principle concerns about her relationship with Royal in Chapter 18? What does Tommy Hubbard relate to Mattie in this chapter?

10. How is the character of Mr. Maxwell introduced in Chapter 20? What are Mattie’s impressions of this character?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe and discuss the murder of Grace Brown at the Covewood Lodge in 1906. Who was tried and convicted of the murder? What transcripts remain of the trial? What evidence was presented? Where in the Adirondacks did the murder occur? How does the author incorporate this setting into A Northern Light?

Essay Topic 2

Examine the theme of duty and obligation as seen in A Northern Light. How are Mattie’s duties to her family at odds with her desires to become a writer? When in your experience have you had to choose between duty and desire? What do you think Mattie should choose? Why?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the themes of courtship and marriage in the novel. During the time period in which the story is set, how important were the rituals of courtship and marriage? At what age were young men and women typically married? How atypical was it for young women to attend college instead of marrying?

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