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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In the opening of the story, what is Mary waiting for?
(a) She is waiting for the lamps to be brought in.
(b) She is waiting for Ned to arrive.
(c) She is waiting for dinner to be announced.
(d) She is waiting for the mail to be brought in.

2. When the story refers to "Boyne," who or what is being referred to?
(a) Ned's father.
(b) Mary.
(c) Ned.
(d) The house.

3. What is the only descriptive detail that the maid is able to give Mary about the stranger's appearance?
(a) He was not very tall.
(b) He wore foreign clothing.
(c) He had an unusual hat.
(d) He walked with a limp.

4. Who is the author of "Afterward"?
(a) Shirley Jackson.
(b) Henry James.
(c) Edith Wharton.
(d) O. Henry.

5. What have Mary's new neighbors told her about the ghost?
(a) That it can only be seen at night.
(b) That she will not know when she sees it.
(c) Nothing.
(d) That it is often absent for long stretches of time.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Mary learn about the Blue Star Mine deal from her visitor in section "V"?

2. What does Mary suddenly remember finding one day in October?

3. To what do Mary and Ned attribute the great beauty they see in England?

4. What is Ned's joking theory about why the ghost is so hard to see?

5. In section "III," when Mary looks at the house from across the property, what does she feel about the house?

Short Essay Questions

1. On the day of his disappearance, what is so frustrating for Mary about her conversation with her staff about where Ned is?

2. How does the narrator describe the life that the Boynes had in America?

3. Why does Parvis come to see Mary near the end of the story?

4. In the beginning of section "IV," how much time has elapsed since Ned's disappearance, and what has been happening in that time?

5. In the narrative present at the beginning of the story, where is Mary and what is she doing?

6. How has Ned's mood changed on the morning after he and Mary first discussed the Blue Star lawsuit, and what does Mary believe changed his mood?

7. What does Ned tell Mary about the Blue Star lawsuit?

8. What happens with the mysterious visitor on the day that Ned disappears?

9. What does Alida Stair tell the Boynes about Lyng?

10. What draws the Boynes to England?

(see the answer keys)

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